Request access restrictions for your publications

Turnstiles in a station with no entry signs on them.

If you have found legal deposit material you believe should not be available to users, please notify us. The legal deposit libraries operate a notice and takedown policy for specific circumstances in which public access should be withdrawn or deposited material should be removed.

The legal deposit libraries operate a notice and takedown policy for specific circumstances in which public access should be withdrawn or deposited material should be removed.

Reasons for withdrawal or removal

Valid reasons for withdrawing or removing material can include:

  • agreements for embargoing access
  • court injunctions
  • legal requirements
  • proven violations of copyright or database right, not covered by legal deposit legislation or a limitation or exception in UK copyright law
  • material that has been found to be libelous or defamatory
  • breaches of confidentiality

How to notify us

If you have found legal deposit material that you believe should not be available to users, please notify us in writing, marked ‘URGENT’. Send an email to noticeandtakedown@bl.uk or write to:

Notice and Takedown
Licensing
6A Floor 1
The British Library
Boston Spa
Wetherby
LS23 7BQ

Please include the following information:

  • your contact details
  • sufficient information, including exact catalogue reference and full URL, for us to identify the relevant item(s)
  • the nature of your complaint, and reason for notifying us
  • if your complaint concerns intellectual property rights, confirmation that you are the rights holder, or an authorised representative of the rights holder
  • if your complaint concerns libel, defamation, confidentiality or personal data, confirmation that you are either the publisher or the subject of the material in question, or their authorised representative.

On receipt of a complaint we will:

  • acknowledge receipt of your complaint by email or letter
  • make an initial assessment of the complaint on its merits and, pending our inquiries, may remove or disable access to the relevant material.

Our commitments

The British Library and other Legal Deposit Libraries are committed to ensuring that UK-published material that is collected or deposited under legal deposit legislation is preserved and made available for researchers to use in the Libraries’ premises. However, the Libraries are also committed to ensuring that material is archived and displayed lawfully, and in accordance with policies agreed with stakeholder representatives.