Office of Public Sector Information

Exclusive Agreements

The European Commission is planning to formally investigate exclusive agreements across Member States under the European Directive on the Re-use of Public Sector Information. Exclusive agreements are where a particular organisation is granted the sole right to make use of material. OPSI contacted public sector organisations from central and local government.

The following is a summary of the exclusive agreements that have been granted by UK public sector organisations.

Public Sector Organisation	Central Office of Information
Exclusive Licence Agreement
Material	Crown copyright film and photographs produced by the Central Office of Information.
Rights	Exclusive rights to market and sell footage.
Date	18 December 2007
Term	5 years
Cancellation period	N/A
Reason	There is a need to ensure archival permanence and to provide professional storage facilities. It was therefore thought that an exclusive agreement with a reputable film archive was justified.
OPSI assessment/action	The agreement has been reviewed by OPSI as part of an IFTS verification exercise. OPSI concluded that the agreement should continue to run until 2012, at which point it will need to be reviewed.

Public Sector Organisation	Coal Authority
Exclusive agreement details
Material	Coal Authority property search address data.
Rights	Exclusive commercialization, sale and distribution.
Date	20 September 2006
Term	3 years from the date of execution of the Agreement.
Cancellation Period	Termination of full contract by 12 months prior written notice, though simply by notice in writing in cases of material breach, etc.
Reason	The initiative was subject to a full competitive tender exercise. This was deemed necessary because the overall commercial value was uncertain and exclusive arrangements were sought by the various third party companies interested in responding to the tender for the sale and distribution of the property search data.
OPSI assessment/action	OPSI will be recommending to the Coal Authority that it serves notice of termination at the earliest opportunity.

Public Sector Organisation	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Exclusive agreement details
Material	The Transporters DVD and resources. These consist of cartoons, quizzes, computer generated settings etc., and are designed to help children with autism.
Rights	Exclusive worldwide licence of the intellectual property subsisting in The Transporters materials and to market and exploit The Transporters brand.
Date	28 May 2008
Term	20 years
Cancellation Period	None
Reason	The principal aim of the agreement is to aid and assist the development of children with autism spectrum conditions. The agreement enables the licensee to enhance The Transporters, maximise the sales of the DVD and exposure of the brand and to develop other products and services aimed at assisting the development of children with autism spectrum conditions. DCMS did not have the resources or expertise to do this in-house. 25% of profit goes to further research and autism charities.
OPSI assessment/action	This material falls outside the public task of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is unlikely that any private company would be prepared to make the substantial investment required without the grant of exclusive rights.

Public Sector Organisation	Food Standards Agency
Exclusive agreement details
Material	Industry Guides
Rights	Exclusive publication rights.
Date	March 2006
Term	3 years
Cancellation Period	6 months
Reason	To facilitate publication of guides on favourable terms by small industry sectors. For consistency of the portfolio of Industry Guides.
OPSI assessment/action	OPSI will be recommending to the Food Standards Agency that it terminates the agreement at the earliest opportunity.

Public Sector Organisation	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Exclusive agreement details
Material	Back catalogue of Documents on British Policy Overseas (22 volumes); Documents on British Foreign Policy (65 volumes); and British Documents on the Origin of the War (11 volumes)
Rights	Exclusive rights to digitise and distribute the material via the web.
Date	4 March 2008
Term	3 years
Cancellation period	180 days
Reason	Exclusivity necessary for the commercial viability of the digitisation and database construction.
OPSI assessment/action	OPSI will arrange a meeting with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to discuss the way forward.

Public Sector Organisation	HM Treasury
Exclusive agreement details
Material	The Economics of Climate Change - The Stern Review
Rights	World reproduction rights in any language or media.
Date	August 2006
Term	Full term of copyright.
Reason	To arrange commercial publication.
Cancellation Period	None
OPSI assessment/action	On OPSI advice the agreement was amended to draw a distinction between the publishers' edition and electronic copies which could be downloaded and re-used from government websites. Given that a reproducible version is available there is no need to terminate the exclusive print publication agreement.

Public Sector Organisation	Home Office
Exclusive agreement details
Material	Beat: Life on the Street, series 1; Beat: Life on the Street, series 2.
Rights	Exclusive right to transmit in the UK on television and other simultaneous / catch-up services.
Date	October 2006; October 2007.
Term	5 years, with an option for a further 2 years.
Reason	Standard broadcasting terms and conditions.
OPSI assessment/action	Consistent with broadcasting terms. No action required.

Public Sector Organisation	Ministry of Justice
Exclusive agreement details
Material	The Judicial Studies Board's ’Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases’.
Rights	Exclusive publication rights.
Date	28 March 2008
Term	Initial term ends in early 2009.
Cancellation Period	90 days
Reason	To allow for the most efficient distribution of the Guidelines, to judges and other interested parties (solicitors, barristers, insurance companies, trade unions and medical defence organisations) and to promote speed, certainty and therefore fewer appeals in the area of personal injury litigation, by attracting an editorial team of highly experienced personal injury lawyers to collate the material. The agreement also stipulated the provision of free copies of the book to members of the judiciary with a civil jurisdiction.
OPSI assessment/action	Given that the agreement expires in 2009, OPSI will recommend that it is not renewed on exclusive terms.
Exclusive agreement details
Material	Legal Services Commission (’LSC’) Manual
Rights	Exclusive rights in print and electronic media. The Legal Services Commission retains some rights to publish the material.
Date	23rd October 2003
Term	An initial period of 3 years, with a 2 year optional extension, which was taken.
Reason	Exclusive rights were granted because the LSC needs to publish the LSC Manual in loose-leaf print and electronic versions, and does not have the significant internal resource needed to do this. The LSC requires its provider base to have access to the totality of material gathered together in the LSC Manual in order to provide publicly funded legal services. Its arrangement with TSO ensures that the LSC Manual is available at a reasonable price. Exclusive rights were granted to ensure it was a workable commercial model for any publisher. Under the contract with TSO, TSO receives the benefit of the royalty-free licence in return for being able to publish and sell the LSC Manual. Under this arrangement, TSO must provide the LSC with a certain number of copies of the LSC Manual free of charge, for the LSC's own business use.
OPSI assessment/action	OPSI has received a statement from the Legal Services Commission that the contract will be publicly re-tendered on a non-exclusive basis.

Public Sector Organisation	UK Hydrographic Office
Exclusive agreement details
Material	The Nautical Almanac
Rights	Exclusive publication rights worldwide, excluding the European Union.
Date	1 July 2004
Term	6 years
Reason	The UKHO inherited the agreement from the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils when it took over responsibility for Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office in April 2006 (for the 2008 edition onwards).
OPSI assessment/action	Future agreements will offer standard (non-exclusive) terms in accordance with UKHO's licensing policy. Contractual conditions prevent the agreement being amended before July 2010.