The National Archives have a new post, taken from on their PSI Perspectives blog that looks at the future of licensing government-created works and data. Below are the key details pertinent to data.gov.uk
The UK Government is developing the next generation of its licensing framework for public sector information. Building on the approach tested for data.gov.uk, part of the new framework is a machine-readable licence suitable for making central government Crown copyright as well as information and data from local government and the wider public sector available for re-use more easily. The key features are that the new licence will be: non-transactional, in that re-users do not need to obtain individual permission for re-use; free, in that there is no charge for the licence; and it will promote innovation and openness by allowing the re-use and re-purposing of a broad range of public sector information. In assembling this solution, the Government looked at the Creative Commons and Open Data Commons models, and anticipates a high degree of interoperability between these licences.
This licence will form part of the UK Government Licensing Framework. In those areas where Crown copyright material will be licensed commercially, notably by information-rich trading funds such as The Met Office and the Land Registry, guidance and FAQs will clarify the demarcation and existing regulatory and best practice schemes will continue to set standards. The Government also envisages that the Framework will provide an ideal opportunity to clarify copyright policy in a number of other areas, including the licensing of software.
The team working on the Framework has had input from across the licensing community and will welcome feedback with the beta launch in July.
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