Page 35 - GIGW2

Guidelines

for Indian Government Apps & Websites

Building Confidence

3.1
Content Copyright

Copyright is a form of protection provided to the owners of “original works of authorship”
in any form or media. It is implied that the original information put up on the website by
a Government Department is by default a copyright of the owner Department and may
be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed only if
the copyright policy of the concerned Department allows so.

3.1.1 Hence, the information, material and documents made available on an Indian
Government website MUST be backed up with proper copyright policy
explaining the terms and conditions of their usage and reference by others. The
copyright policy of a Department could be liberal, moderate or conservative
depending upon their preferences based on the kind of information available on
their website. However, since it is a duty of a Government Department to provide
all the information in the public domain freely to the citizens, the Departments
should aim to have a liberal copyright policy.

3.1.2 In cases where the document is in public domain and there is no restriction on its
reproduction, the copyright statement may be worded as follows:

Sample: Copyright Statement

“Material featured on this site may be reproduced free of charge in any
format or media without requiring specific permission. This is subject to the
material being reproduced accurately and not being used in a derogatory
manner or in a misleading context. Where the material is being published
or issued to others, the source must be prominently acknowledged.
However, the permission to reproduce this material does not extend to any
material on this site, which is explicitly identified as being the copyright of
a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material must be obtained
from the copyright holders concerned.”

3.1.3 In cases where the nature of information/document calls for a restriction on its
reproduction, the copyright statement may be worded as follows:

©2017,NIC 21