Digital guide: working with open licences/The National Lottery Heritage Fund open licensing requirement

All projects supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund agree to share their digital outputs through an open licence or public domain dedication. This requirement applies only to works created with the project funding.

The open licensing requirement

Original content

All projects will apply the CC BY 4.0 licence to all original content created during the course of the project.

You continue to own the works produced under the grant. The CC BY 4.0 licence allows everyone to share and adapt your works for any purpose, even commercially. Users must attribute you and indicate whether any changes have been made.

You will need permission to use a different licence. To do so, please get in touch with your contact at The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Code and metadata

All projects will apply the CC0 1.0 tool to all code and metadata created during the course of the project, like software code or technical data generated during digitisation.

The CC0 1.0 tool tells everyone that the works are in the public domain and any rights have been waived worldwide to the fullest extent allowed by copyright and database law. Users can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, without first seeking permission.

Left: Creative Commons Public Domain Declaration (CC0) button. Right: CC0 icon

"Our new licensing requirement helps us to increase access to the UK’s rich heritage and promote the innovative use of digital across the sector."

Josie Fraser, Head of Digital Policy, The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Scope of the open licensing requirement

What materials does the open licensing requirement apply to?

The open licensing requirement applies to all funded projects of all sizes, and all materials created and commissioned as a result of the funding.

Examples include:

• images and 3D models
• text, research and datasets
• software, metadata and code
• educational materials and exhibition catalogues
• project reports and publications
• web and app content
• sound and video recordings

Not everything created in the course of your project, like emails between team members and records of meetings, must be shared or openly licensed. We do however encourage you to share any workflow processes, findings and other work as openly as possible for the benefit of others.

Projects are not allowed to ‘hold back’ higher resolution or better-quality digital outputs they produce. Everything should be published under the appropriate licence or public domain dedication.

If you are worried about hosting, your contact at The National Lottery Heritage Fund can help you find a solution.

How does the requirement apply to projects digitising public domain works?

You cannot claim new rights in any non-original materials generated when reproducing public domain works with grant funding. This includes but is not limited to faithful reproductions of public domain works (like scans and 3D data) and the other materials generated (like metadata and paradata).

To make sure these materials are not mistaken for materials under copyright, you should clearly identify these public domain assets using the CC0 1.0 tool.

Working with third party materials

Third parties might include:

• paid suppliers
• commissioned creators
• unpaid collaborators
• members of the public.

New third party materials are subject to the open licensing requirement, with exceptions allowed. Pre-existing materials require the third party’s permission to be openly licensed.

How does the requirement apply to new materials created by third parties?

There is an expectation that all materials created during the project are shared under the open licensing requirement. This should be discussed early on with third parties so that any exception to use an alternative licence can be requested, if necessary.

Where third parties are paid, the open licensing requirement should be included in the contract. Examples include:

• Freelancers contracted to create content, like photographs or social media posts.
• Computer programmers or engineers who create new code, platforms or apps.
• Artists who are commissioned to remix or create new works.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund funded A guide to copyright and working with suppliers to create digital content (2020).

Where third parties are unpaid, the open licensing requirement should be consented to. Examples include:

• members of the public who make contributions of interviews or other creative works during research or community workshops .
• volunteers or users who contribute to your digital platform

How does the requirement apply to existing materials created by third parties?

If your project uses pre-existing materials, you need permission from the rights holder to apply the open licensing requirement.

For example, if your project establishes an archive, the new materials funded by the project must be openly licensed. Examples include:

• guidance on how to use the archive
• a publication about the archive
• curators’ notes and research
• outputs made by or with third parties
• even the platform itself, if developed with grant funding

If your archive incorporates existing materials, the rights holder decides whether they can be openly licensed.

• if your organisation owns the rights, this is your decision
• if a third party owns the rights, you cannot openly license the work without their permission

You can still use the materials and make them available in your archive. Just let users know which works are protected by copyright and attribute the rights holder, if known.

Making your materials publicly available

How long should project materials remain publicly available?

Digital outputs need to be publicly available for at least five years from the project completion date. This will vary with the overall value of your project (in the case of larger awards, this requirement extends to 20 years).

Digital outputs can be published anywhere online as long as the public has free and unfettered access to them. People should not be required to register, fill out forms or seek special permission to access and download your materials.

They can be housed on your website or project platform. You can also use free repositories, like Wikimedia Commons or GitHub.

Open licences and tools are irrevocable. This means your digital outputs will remain openly licensed even after five years. In other words, once a work is released under an open licence, the public always has the right to use it under the relevant terms and that permission cannot be withdrawn. Requests to take down the work can always be made. But keep in mind it may not be possible to take down all copies of a work online.

Selecting the right platform to share materials

Always make sure the platform used to share materials can support the licence, so you can reach more people with your project. You can find this information in the terms and conditions or licensing features of the platform you wish to use. This will increase the sustainability of the materials’ publication, access and reuse.

For example, YouTube allows creators to use the CC BY or the Standard YouTube License. Publication under other terms would require editing the video descriptions to include the alternative licensing information.

The Frequently Asked Questions on Creative Commons and Open Access and the Fact Sheet on Creative Commons and Open Science have more guidance about how to openly licence materials. (2017, CC BY)

This article by Kelly Fitzpatrick (2017) discusses how four cultural organisations use GitHub to share data and code.