Content licensing and integration
Information for universities and further education institutions
Currently, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence procure BNF and BNFC content for NHS Users. This content is available for ‘read only’ purposes at https://bnf.nice.org.uk/ and https://bnfc.nice.org.uk/ (and via the BNF + BNFC app) and all viewers must accept the provisions of the End User Licensing Agreement. The NICE UK Open Content Licence only applies to content produced and published by NICE and clause 12 confirms BNF and BNFC are excluded from this licence. None of the authors or publishers of BNF or BNFC content are “public sector bodies” and therefore BNF and BNFC content is not “Public Sector Information” that is subject to the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations (2015).
NICE do not procure BNF and BNFC content for provision to Higher and Further education establishments and therefore Universities and Further Education Institutions must purchase a licence for MedicinesComplete in order to give students and teachers access to BNF and BNFC content, in addition to our other content sets such as Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference and Stockley’s Drug Interactions.
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 the uses which higher education institutions make of the work, including any copying, distributing, communicating or adapting BNF and BNFC content for use in teaching. Typical examples of this are teaching staff giving presentations or distributing handouts containing BNF or BNFC extracts, or students using and citing BNF or BNFC content for coursework.
Under the current law there is a “fair dealing” exception that allows limited use of literary works for the purposes of teaching, provided it does not involve reprography. However, the exception cannot only be relied upon by teaching institutions as uses that undermine the sales of educational materials (such as BNF and BNFC) do not constitute “fair dealing” and still require the purchase of a licence. As the current Government guidance on the education exception to copyright explicitly states: “Schools, colleges and universities still have to pay for third party teaching materials which are available under licence.”
Universities and Further Education institutions should not encourage students to download the BNF + BNFC app in order to use it for teaching and learning purposes. Whilst students may be considered NHS users of BNF and BNFC content on the NICE website whilst on NHS placement, they are not covered by the NICE licence whilst studying, learning and submitting themselves for assessment at universities and further education institutions. Any educational body encouraging students to use the BNF + BNFC app for their studies is facilitating and encouraging copyright infringement by its students. Students who require access to BNF or BNFC content to fulfil university and further education study and assessment requirements must be provided with licensed use through MedicinesComplete.
