Purpose and Legal Basis
This Policy explains the ownership and permitted re-use of material published through official Kaharagian websites and digital services.
Intellectual property held by the State forms part of the Sovereign Domain under FN Art. 12. Under CC Art. 39, the ownership, transfer and protection of intellectual property are governed by the law of the jurisdiction granting protection and by any applicable treaty or convention.
Accordingly, “Crown Copyright” in this Policy identifies State-owned copyright and the authority under which official material is published. It does not claim protection beyond that available under applicable law, and it does not displace the intellectual-property law of a jurisdiction whose law governs protection.
If this Policy conflicts with the Fundamental Laws, the Civil Code, an applicable promulgated treaty or a mandatory law governing copyright protection, that law prevails.
Material Covered
Unless otherwise stated, copyright in official text, policy documents, guidance, page layouts, graphics, photographs, recordings, software and other original material created by or for the State is held by the Sovereign in right of the State or by the relevant Kaharagian institution.
Open access to official material does not, by itself, transfer ownership or waive copyright. Material remains protected for the period and to the extent provided by the applicable law.
A notice attached to particular material may identify a different owner, licence or set of conditions. That specific notice takes precedence over this general Policy for the material concerned.
Reservation of Rights
Except for the limited permission expressly granted below, all rights are reserved. No right, title, licence, consent, waiver or interest arises by implication, estoppel, access, download, technical interoperability, silence or failure to enforce.
The absence, loss or removal of a copyright notice does not place material in the public domain, transfer ownership or waive a right. Copyright notices, authorship information, digital signatures, watermarks, provenance records and other rights-management information form part of the State’s evidence of ownership and publication history and must not be removed or falsified.
Access to material does not grant permission to register, claim ownership of, sublicense, sell, pledge, encumber or create an exclusive right over that material or a confusingly similar adaptation.
General Permission to Re-use
The State permits the free, non-commercial re-use of most official written material, provided that the user:
- reproduces it accurately;
- does not present an altered extract as the official text;
- does not use it in a misleading or unlawful context;
- acknowledges the source and Crown Copyright status;
- does not imply endorsement, recognition, affiliation or authority; and
- complies with any specific notice displayed with the material.
This permission is personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, royalty-free and revocable in respect of future use. It does not prevent any use independently permitted by the law governing copyright, including a statutory exception or limitation.
The permission terminates automatically for material used in material breach of its conditions. Following termination, the user must stop the unauthorised use and distribution, remove affected copies from services under the user’s control where legally and technically possible, and preserve evidence relevant to any dispute. Termination does not affect rights, liabilities or remedies accrued before termination. The Royal Chancellery may reinstate permission in writing and subject to conditions.
Accuracy and Official Status
Re-use must preserve the meaning of official material. A user may abridge, translate or adapt material only if the result is clearly identified as unofficial and does not misrepresent the source.
An adaptation must not retain an official seal, authentication device, digital signature or other feature in a manner that suggests the adaptation is authentic, current or issued by the State. Material must not be combined with false or deceptive content, or presented in a way that creates a likelihood of confusion about its source, status or authority.
Where a law, decree, order, notice or other instrument has legal effect, the authenticated and current version published through the official channel prevails over any copy, extract, translation or adaptation. Where publication in the Royal Kaharagian Gazette is required, the Gazette version is authoritative in accordance with FN Art. 39.
Attribution
The following attribution should normally be used:
Crown Copyright © [year]. State of the Kaharagians. Source: [title and official website].
For an academic reference, the following general form may be used:
State of the Kaharagians, [Title of Document] ([issuing institution or official website], [year]).
Where the material identifies an author, issuing office, instrument number, date or permanent link, those details should also be included as appropriate.
Commercial Use
Prior written permission is required before Crown Copyright material is used primarily for commercial gain, unless the material carries a licence that already permits such use or the use is independently permitted by applicable law.
Commercial use includes sale, inclusion in a paid product or service, advertising, marketing, merchandise and another use intended principally to generate revenue.
Commercial use also includes licensing or supplying official material as a dataset; using it to develop, train, fine-tune, benchmark or evaluate a commercial automated system; incorporating it into a paid search, retrieval or knowledge service; or using it to generate a product, service or model from which commercial value is derived.
A request should explain the material to be used, the proposed adaptation, intended audience, distribution method and commercial purpose. Permission may be subject to conditions concerning accuracy, attribution, presentation, distribution, fees or duration.
Automated Extraction, Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining
The general permission does not authorise:
- bulk scraping, harvesting or systematic extraction of official material;
- compilation of official material into a corpus, dataset, knowledge base or vector database;
- training, fine-tuning, grounding, benchmarking or evaluating an artificial-intelligence or machine-learning system;
- generating or distributing model weights, embeddings or synthetic material substantially derived from protected material;
- automated republication or creation of a substitute for an official service; or
- circumvention of access controls, rate limits, technical restrictions or machine-readable usage instructions.
Prior written permission is required for these activities unless they are independently permitted by the law governing copyright. Ordinary indexing by a public search engine is permitted where it respects published access controls and does not reproduce substantial protected content or create a misleading substitute for the official source.
Permission for automated use may require technical safeguards, provenance and attribution measures, usage reporting, restrictions on model outputs, security controls, audit rights, deletion duties and a separate licence fee.
Restricted Material
The general permission does not cover:
- the Great Seal, official seals or instruments of authentication;
- the Arms of Kaharagia, flags, royal symbols, insignia or regalia;
- official marks, badges, logos or visual identities;
- commissioned artwork, photographs or recordings subject to separate rights;
- personal data or confidential, security-sensitive or access-restricted material;
- software or datasets carrying separate licence terms;
- databases, compilations, metadata and machine-readable feeds except to the extent expressly licensed;
- material expressly identified as restricted; or
- third-party material.
Unauthorised reproduction or use of the Great Seal, other State authentication instruments, digital seals, authentication tokens, cryptographic keys or State digital signatures is a grave offence under CR Art. 15. Unauthorised use, reproduction, distortion or public display of sovereign insignia is a serious offence under CR Art. 16, subject to the statutory defence for good-faith commentary, education, journalism or satire that creates no genuine risk of confusion.
Nothing in this Policy permits forgery, impersonation, false endorsement, misuse of an official instrument or conduct prohibited by the Criminal Code.
Third-Party Rights
Official services may contain material owned by another person or organisation. Where reasonably possible, that ownership will be identified. The State’s permission does not extend to third-party material, and the user must obtain any necessary permission from the relevant rights holder.
The appearance of third-party material on an official service does not transfer ownership to the State or create a general right of re-use.
Enforcement and Foreign Protection
The State may protect Crown Copyright, confidential material, sovereign insignia, authentication devices and other State-owned rights in any jurisdiction whose law affords protection. Acting through a competent authority and as permitted by applicable law, it may:
- preserve evidence and investigate suspected misuse;
- issue infringement, attribution, correction, preservation or cessation notices;
- request removal, disabling of access, de-indexing, account restriction or preservation of identifying records;
- terminate or suspend a permission or licence;
- demand attribution, correction, delivery up, deletion or destruction where available;
- negotiate a licence, undertaking, settlement or other resolution;
- commence, defend, support or participate in proceedings;
- seek declarations, specific performance, interim or final relief, damages, restitution, an account of profits, costs or another available remedy;
- recognise or enforce rights and judgments through a competent foreign authority; or
- refer suspected offences to the competent Kaharagian or foreign authority.
Under CC Art. 41, obligations may arise from contract, unilateral declaration, unjust enrichment, wrongful act or operation of law. Where permission forms part of a contract, the remedies in CC Art. 48 may include specific performance, damages, withholding reciprocal performance and termination, subject to their statutory conditions. Non-contractual protection and remedies remain governed by the applicable law identified through Kaharagian conflict-of-laws rules.
The State decides whether and where to take action after considering the applicable law, available remedies, public interest, proportionality and prospects of enforcement. A decision to act in one jurisdiction does not oblige it to act there, or at all, in another matter.
Any choice to act in a foreign forum is limited to the matter concerned and carries the jurisdictional consequences imposed by applicable law. It is not a general submission for unrelated matters.
Failure or delay in taking action is not consent, abandonment, dedication to the public domain or a waiver. A waiver must be express, specific and authorised in writing by a competent Kaharagian authority. Enforcement in one matter does not require enforcement in another, and the State may prioritise action according to seriousness, public interest, evidential strength, available remedies and likely effectiveness.
Governing Law and Legal Order
This Policy is governed by Kaharagian law as to the State’s ownership, authority and internal administration, subject to the Fundamental Laws, applicable promulgated treaties and Kaharagian conflict-of-laws rules. The existence, scope, duration and enforcement of copyright in another jurisdiction are governed as provided by CC Art. 39(2).
This section is to be read with FN Arts. 6, 12, 36, 38, 42, 45 and 47. Officials acting abroad do not claim immunity or privilege that the host jurisdiction does not recognise.
Permission Requests and Contact
Questions and permission requests should be sent to:
Royal Chancellery
chancellery@kaharagia.org
Please identify the material, source, proposed use, intended audience, publication method, planned changes and whether the use is commercial.
Changes to This Policy
The State may revise this Policy to reflect changes in Kaharagian law, applicable intellectual-property law, treaties, technology or administrative practice. The review date above will be updated after a substantive change.