Guidance on copyright and permission to publish

The guidance issued below does not constitute legal advice.

If you want to make further copies, quote from or publish documents supplied by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), then you and not PRONI are responsible for clearing copyright and for complying with copyright legislation.

Copies and publication of public records in Crown copyright

Many public records in PRONI are in Crown copyright, for example, records of government departments and the courts of law.

You are free to copy, quote, index, transcribe, publish and broadcast such Crown copyright material without formal permission or acknowledgement of the copyright owner.  However, you must make acknowledgment to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and quote the reference number of the document. The waiver of Crown copyright does not apply in the case of maps created by Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland where the map is less than 50 years old.

Documents within public records that are not Crown copyright are not covered by this waiver.  For example, if a departmental file contained a letter written to the department by a private individual, then this letter would be subject to private copyright regulations.

For further details you should read the Permission to Publish leaflet.

Copies and publication of non-public records

PRONI will supply copies of non-public records provided you complete and return a copyright declaration form and observe the conditions it contains.  Any infringement of these conditions may result in legal action.  If you wish to publish then you must contact PRONI, making your request in writing via letter or email.

For further details you should read the General Information Leaflet - Permission to Publish (36KB) leaflet.