Licence Exceptions (IFTS)

The Coal Authority is committed to trading its data in line with the principles of the Information Fair Trader Scheme administered by the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI). See our Chief Executive’s statement in support of this commitment to these principles.

We will grant appropriate licences wherever possible but please note that we may refuse a licence in certain circumstances listed below.

1. We may refuse to grant certain applications if your request to use or reproduce Coal Authority data falls outside the Coal Authority’s standard terms and conditions. If we reject your application, we will try to offer another solution and work with you to revise your application if appropriate. If we refuse your application, we will explain why.
   
   
2. We will be unable to grant a licence if a product is protected by the rights of another organisation and that organisation has not given their permission. For example, where a Coal Authority product contains third party intellectual property rights we may be constrained by the third party’s licensing terms and conditions.
   
   
3. We may refuse certain customers a licence if they:
   
   (i) are currently in dispute with us or have previously been in dispute with us, about a very serious issue such as non-payment of licence fees, unlicensed use of our data or a material and persistent breach of any of our agreements and that dispute was not satisfactorily resolved;
   
   (ii) do not have enough creditworthiness (according to our checks with credit reference agencies) to pay any licence fees and are not willing to offer another method of payment (for example, a bank guarantee, payment in advance, and so on).
   
   
4. We will not grant a licence where we consider the use of our data to be inappropriate. For example, where:
   
   (i) the intended use of Coal Authority data is likely to bring the Coal Authority into disrepute, or
   
   (ii) the re-use of data could raise concerns with the public regarding safety or property valuations. The Coal Authority is intending to communicate and manage these potential public concerns directly.

Useful Information

• IFTS Report prepared by OPSI
• Information Asset Register
• Freedom of Information
• Scale of Charges

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