Charges for Re-Use

If you have been charged for access to the same information e.g. under a Freedom of Information request, we will not make further charges in respect of the collection and production of the information.

However, you may still be required to pay a reasonable return on our investment (see below).  The charges will depend on the type of licence that is required.

A.  Nominal Charges

Nominal charges may cover our basic costs relating to:

(i) the collection, production, reproduction and dissemination of the documents e.g. copying, printing and postage.

(ii) the cost of conversion of the information to a different format or extraction from a larger dataset.

Please note, we are not required to provide the information in a particular format e.g. as a spreadsheet or in a compatible database format, or extract it from a larger dataset. However we will try and meet reasonable requests wherever possible, in which case there may be an additional charge.

B.  Full Charges

Full Charges may include nominal charges together with a reasonable return on our investment. A reasonable return on investment may be sought in certain circumstances. For example, officer time spent on collection and production of the information or where the Council has made a significant professional or technical input into the creation of the information, or where you propose to make a commercial re-use of the material.

Officer Time

Officer time. will be calculated at a charge of £25 per hour in order to remain consistent with the Freedom of Information Act.

In calculating a reasonable return on investment, we reserve the right to impose either a Royalty or a Fixed Fee.

B1. Fixed Fees

A fixed fee is a fee that is payable either once or at agreed intervals. Fixed fees will usually be used in the following circumstances:

• Where the material is re-used in a way that does not involve the offer for sale of a product or service to a customer;
• Where the quantity of material being used is modest. For text this will be up to 5,000 words. Most tables, diagrams, illustrations and photographs will be handled this way.
• Where the material will be made available free of charge (and where it is agreed to licence such re-use). For example, a user may wish to re-use material in a free issue publication or on a free access website. The fees are partly dependent on the type of material and how it is presented;

Where the material represents a small proportion of a large database product.

The range of fees is set out in the following paragraphs.

Fixed Fee - Text

The following fees apply for the re-use of material in all formats, including print, on the web, and intranet. It does not include photocopying. The first 1,000 words can be re-used free of charge. Quantities exceeding 1,000 words will be charged according to the amount of material being used in any single product or service, as illustrated below:

Number of words      Fee in any single product or service        

         0 - 1,000                         No charge

    1001 - 2000                     £ 60.00

    2001 - 3000                     £ 120.00

Fixed fee - Tables, illustrations, diagrams and photographs

The first item can be re-used free of charge, but all subsequent items will be charged at £50 for each item in any single product or service. This covers the re-use of illustrative material in books, on the web, in journals and newspapers and on television. Additional fees are payable for supply of photographic prints/negatives and artwork by the holding department/ organisation. In the context of this document, a table means an arrangement or collection of text or numbers not exceeding 1,000 words/numbers. It also means a single graph.

 Number of items      Fee in any single product or service   

      1 item                                No charge

      2 items                               £ 50.00

      3 items                               £100.00

B2. Royalties

A royalty is a fee that is linked to the amount of income generated from the sale of your product. They are generally payable annually. The royalty approach is often used in the following circumstances:

• Where the material is re-used in a commercial product that is offered for sale; and/or
• Where a substantial amount of material is being re-used.

Our royalty rate is 10%. This rate is linked to the level of income generated by the product and how much material is being re-used.  Example: if the re-use material made up 25% of the contents of a published text, the fee due would be based on the following calculation:

10% of Licensee Income x 25%

So, if the publisher sells 3,000 copies of a book during a royalty period and generates £30,000 from sales after taking into account the booksellers' or agents' discount, the fee would be £750 (10% x £30,000 x 25%). 

To Return to top of page.