Re-use Guidance
Background
The PSI Regulations were effective from 1 July 2005 and
implement a European Directive (2003/98/EC) on the re-use of public
sector information. The Directive aims to harmonise national rules
and practices and enable growth of the information industry across
Europe.
As the title suggests the focus of the Directive and Regulations
is on re-use of information rather than on access. The Borough
Council is bound by its obligations under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations
2004 in dealing with requests for access to information. The supply
of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004 does not automatically
give the recipient of the information the right to re-use it. The
information will usually be disclosed with a warning that separate
permission needs to be obtained from the copyright owner before its
use in a way that would infringe copyright, for example, by making
multiple copies, publishing and issuing copies to the public.
Existing UK legislation on copyright remains unchanged by the
Regulations.
Relationship with Data Protection
It should be noted that the Regulations in no way affect the
level of protection of inPiduals regarding the processing of their
personal data under the provisions and principles of the data
protection legislation.
Scope of the Regulations
The following documents are excluded from the Regulations:
1. Documents that are exempt from
disclosure under the Freedom of Information legislation
2. Documents that are excepted
from disclosure under the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004
3. Documents in which the
copyright and/or other intellectual property rights are owned or
controlled by a third party other than the Borough Council
4. Documents that fall outside the
scope of the public task of the Borough Council, i.e.
documents produced that are not directly related to the core
responsibilities of the Borough Council, such as documents
with a value-added or commercial nature
5. Documents held by educational
and research establishments such as schools, universities,
archives, libraries and research facilities
6. Documents held by cultural
establishments including museums, libraries, archives, orchestras,
theatre and performing arts establishments
7. Documents held by public
service broadcasters (radio and TV stations) for the fulfilment of
a public service broadcasting remit
Definition of 'Re-use'
'Re-use' means the use by a person (or company) of a document
held by the Council for a purpose other than the initial purpose
for which the document was produced. The transfer of documents from
one public sector body to another in pursuit of their public tasks
does not constitute re use.
Asset Lists
An asset is any information that the Council produces that is of
interest or value to the organisation itself and potentially to
others. An asset list is a register of these information assets
categorised using a standard classification method. Maidstone
Borough Council will be using the Publication Scheme as its asset
list.
The first step to re-using public sector information is to know
what significant documents are available for re-use. All
significant documents registered within the Borough Council's
Publication Scheme are available for re-use.
Conditions for Re-use
The Regulations allow the Council up to 20 working days (as for
freedom of information legislation) following date of receipt of
the request for re-use to respond to the request. This timeframe
may be extended by such time as is reasonable in the circumstances
for extensive or complex requests. In such cases the Council will
notify the applicant within the 20 working days of an estimated
date by which it expects to respond to the request for re-use.
You will see notices in publications and on the website which
explain that a licence is not required for non-commercial research
and private study, but you will need a licence from us
for any other form of re-use (for example, posting material on a
website, or distributing printed copies at a meeting).
The Licence enables you to reproduce the material by publishing
it in any medium including featuring it on websites that can be
accessed via the world-wide web or via an internal electronic
network or on an intranet; authorising users and subscribers who
use your electronic or digital products to access the Material by
means of an End User Licence. This will normally allow users and
subscribers to download the Material to screen and printer for
their own use. It does not otherwise allow you to authorise the
reproduction of the information.
The Licence enables the Material to be translated into other
languages or converted to Braille and other formats for people who
are visually impaired. It allows the Material to be copied for non
commercial research or private study. For the full terms and
conditions please see the Standard
Licence.
You are advised to read the terms of the Licence carefully
and complete the on-line Application
Form if you wish to re-use Council information.
Principles governing charging
The Council intends to make the material on its website and the
significant documents available on its Publication Scheme (other
than those where charges apply) available for re-use. Where a
Licence is required this may be free of charge or subject to
a reasonable charge.
Because of the potential Persity of requests for re-use the
Council have taken the view it is not reasonably practicable to
publish standard charges, but the charge will not exceed the total
of the cost of collection, production, reproduction and
dissemination of the document which is the subject of the request
together with a reasonable return on investment. Neither the
Regulations nor the Directive define what is meant by a
reasonable return on investment, and therefore this will
be dependent on the particular circumstances. You will be advised
of any charge due to be paid in these circumstances.
Reasons for Refusal to allow Re-use of a
document
The Council has the right to refuse the re-use of documents
provided that there are sound reasons for doing so. This will
generally be because the document falls outside the scope of the
Directive because:
1. copyright in the document is
owned by a third party;
2. supply of the document falls
outside its public task (this could include the supply of documents
that are produced and charged for exclusively on a commercial
basis);
3. the document falls within the
scope of the exempted classes of material under freedom of
information and data protection legislation.
If the Council refuses a request for re-use it will notify the
applicant in writing of its decision within 20 working days and the
reason for refusal. If ground (1) above is the reason the
notification will identify the person who owns the relevant
intellectual property rights, where known, or the name of the
person from whom the Council obtained the document.
Complaints Procedure
The Council has a procedure for dealing with complaints
including complaints about the handling of a request for re-use of
public sector information.
In accordance with Regulation 19 of the Regulations where an
applicant has exhausted the internal complaints procedure he may
refer that complaint to the Office of Public Sector Information
(OPSI). Such complaint must be in writing, state the nature of the
complaint, include a copy of the written determination under the
internal complaints procedure and be lodged with OPSI before the
end of 28 working days beginning with the date of receipt of the
determination.
OPSI will investigate the complaint and issue a Decision within
30 working days. Complex cases may be subject to a payment of £500
(non-refundable). Both parties can appeal to the specially
constituted panel of the Advisory Panel on Public Sector
Information (APPSI). APPSI will investigate and reach a Decision
within 60 working days. Generally evidence will only be considered
in written form. Complaints about OPSI will be referred to APPSI so
as to maintain an equivalent level of independence.