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<p>Decisions about image licensing and fees, and related copyright, are operational
matters for the national museums as arm’s length bodies of government. As such, we
do not hold data on the amount of income raised by image fees, on licences offered
or the impact of fees on academic use.</p><p> </p><p>Details of the process for requesting
permission to reproduce images can be found on the respective websites of the national
museums. The policies of both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery
for example, allow some print reproduction of images for scholarly purposes free of
charge, and several national museums offer or may offer a discount where image reproduction
is for an academic purpose. Others, such as the British Museum and Science Museum,
allow images to be used by the public under a Creative Commons licence. Additionally,
many national museums have demonstrated significant efforts towards digitising their
collections and in doing so are making our national collections accessible to the
nation in new ways.</p><p> </p><p>National museums are bound to provide free, in person,
access to the permanent collections as a condition of government Grant-in-aid (GIA)
funding and this policy has been a great success. Provided this condition is met,
national museums are permitted and encouraged to pursue commercial activities, which
may include image licensing. Such activities are an important supplement to museums
in supporting their objectives to facilitate participation for people of all ages
and backgrounds.</p><p> </p>
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