Content licensing and integration

Frequently Asked Questions

BNF and BNFC content is available for NHS Users through the NICE website, why can it not be freely used or transposed into computer systems or used for scraping and data mining purposes?

BNF and BNFC content on the NICE website is procured by NICE from the BNF Partners for NHS users to consult in the delivery of clinical care. Derivative or transformative use is not permitted, nor is merging BNF and BNFC content into third party systems.

Under English copyright law, our copyright in BNF and BNFC content will be infringed by any person who does, or authorises another to do, any restricted copyright acts without our permission. Such acts include reproducing BNF and BNFC content in any format, ‘making adaptations’ of the work and conducting text and data mining, and ‘scraping’ of websites to access BNF and BNFC database content and unauthorized reproduction of BNF and BNFC content by manually adding BNF and BNFC content (or links to this content) to computer systems.

You must not process, convert or otherwise use any access to BNF and BNFC content to

• generate aggregated and/or statistical data or otherwise conduct data analysis;
• to conduct ‘big data analysis;
• to train, retrain, fine-tune, reconfigure or improve any artificial intelligence or machine learning models; improve or develop any products, services or artificial intelligence or machine learning models;
• adapt or adjust any artificial intelligence or machine learning model weights or parameters or biases in algorithms.

Does the exception in s29A of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act for text and data mining not permit use to scrape and mine BNF and BNFC content on the NICE website?

No. The copyright exception for text and data mining in section 29A of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 only covers text and data analysis for non-commercial research. Manually adding BNF and BNFC content to computer systems to create “Warning and advisory labels”, drug prices, drug names and insertion of hyperlinks to the NICE version of BNF and BNFC content is not non-commercial research and therefore this exception does not apply and a licence from RPS is required.

Note the s29A copyright exception also does not extend to use of any of the other intellectual property rights in BNF and BNFC content as a medicines information database. There is no text and data mining exception for the sui generis database right or any other intellectual property rights that arise in BNF or BNFC content.

Does ‘use’ by NHS Users not include transposing the data into a system that benefits NHS-based use?

No. The NICE licence for BNF and BNFC content for use by NHS Users ensures access to the information in BNF and BNFC content for health professionals at the point of care, not in re-using, transforming or reproducing BNF or BNFC content in a third-party system.

The right to make an adaptation of BNF or BNFC content for the purposes of merging it into a computer system is not included in the NICE NHS User licence and therefore requires a licence directly from the BNF Partners.

Is all content on the NICE website not subject to the NICE UK Open Content Licence?

No. The NICE UK Open Content Licence only applies to content produced and published by NICE. BNF and BNFC content is produced and published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, BMJ Group and RCPCH Publications. Please see clause 12 of the NICE UK Open Content Licence which confirms that the licence does not cover third party rights, specifically BNF and BNFC content.

Why is BNF and BNFC content on the NICE website not subject to the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations (2015)?

BNF and BNFC content is authored and published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, BMJ Group and RCPCH Publications. None of the authors or publishers are “public sector bodies” and therefore the BNF and BNFC are not “Public Sector Information” that is subject to the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations (2015).

What about BNF and BNFC information accessible through MedicinesComplete subscriptions?

The standard licensing terms for MedicinesComplete permit access to BNF and BNFC content and use for non-commercial purposes only.

Licensees are not permitted to: –

• store transiently or permanently on any medium, transfer, transmit, reproduce, rent, sell, lease, sub-license, loan to any third party, copy, publish or otherwise exploit or make commercial use of, modify, adapt, merge, translate, reverse, engineer, decompile, disassemble, create derivative works from or based upon, or combine with other material the whole or any part of BNF or BNFC; or
• distribute or disclose BNF or BNFC content to any third party (including computer systems providers).

The Licensee may display BNF and BNFC on screen and print off single screens: in each case for non-commercial use only. At no stage must copies be made of a substantial part of BNF or BNFC.

The MedicinesComplete website terms of use, which all licensees must comply with, prohibits web scraping and text and data mining of RPS websites. However, RPS can provide a (customisable) data feed or API for customers interested in integrating BNF and BNFC content into their systems.

Information about licensing for data scraping or data integration purposes is available from: licensing@rpharms.com or use our contact form.

If you wish to discuss licensing BNF or BNFC content for inclusion in computer systems to create “Warning and advisory labels”, drug prices, drug names and insertion of hyperlinks please contact: –

Piers Berry – Piers.Berry@rpharms.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7572 2245