Copyright Act 1994

62 Material communicated to the Crown in course of public business

• (1) This section applies where—

  • (a) a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work has, in the course of public business, been communicated to the Crown for any purpose, by or with the licence of the copyright owner; and

  • (b) a document (within the meaning of section 2 of the Official Information Act 1982) recording or embodying the work is owned by, or is in the custody or control of, the Crown.

  (2) The Crown may, for—

  • (a) the purpose for which the work was communicated to the Crown; or

  • (b) any related purpose that could reasonably have been anticipated by the copyright owner,—

  copy the work, and issue copies of the work to the public, without infringing copyright in the work.

  (3) The Crown may not copy a work, or issue copies of a work to the public, under this section if the work has previously been published otherwise than under this section.

  (4) In subsection (1), the term public business includes any activity carried on by the Crown.

  (5) This section has effect subject to any agreement to the contrary between the Crown and the copyright owner.

  Compare: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s 48 (UK)