I blogged in March about the latest version of Defra's agreement with Cranfield University for maintenance and support of the LandIS Vector and Soilscapes Database. LandIS includes the authoritative digital soil map for England and Wales.
Schedule 1 – Annex A of the LandIS Agreement summarises the ownership of LandIS data, with reference to several other agreements made between 1987 and 2003.
Those historical agreements are necessary to understand the current ownership of intellectual property rights in LandIS.
I asked Defra to provide copies and it has done so, with some minor redactions of personal data.
You can download the disclosures and related correspondence:
FOI2024_06716.zip (30 MB zipped)
I have reproduced the Annex A summary of LandIS ownership below, with links to the underlying historical agreements referenced in the text.
Schedule 1 – Annex A. Summary of LandIS Ownership
Background:
Heads of Agreement 24th April 1987 covers transfer from MAFF/AFRC/LAT to Cranfield.
Covers transfer of staff, physical assets and database, IPR issues were left out of this agreement but covered later by the "Deed of Assignment" and the "LandIS Agreement" below.
"Deed of Assignment" from Lawes Agricultural Trust to Cranfield – 31st July 1993
"All records, charts, maps, diagrams, tables, computer software, books, data and all other documents and materials in which copyright may subsist relating to the work of and having been created by or for the Soil Survey of England and Wales and to the Soil Survey and Land Research centre prior to transfer of such assets from the Assignor to the Assignee on July 1987."
This Deed transferred Cranfield IPR rights on all the original SSEW materials in the soil archive.
LandIS Agreement 3rd Sept 1999
Specifically covers only the computerised soil and related databases. Defines:
"Pre-1987 rights"
Description: those datasets which were collected before 1987 and digitally captured before 1999.
Ownership: The IPR is owned by Cranfield. Crown users are granted rights to use for non-commercial purposes for specific uses for the cost of P&A only.
Datasets included: 5km agro-climatic datasets as used in the ALC system; Auger bores collected during the national map programme; 1:25k Coventry map (100m raster), 100m, 1k, 5k National soil map; Representative profiles and analysis (only ⁓3000 profiles from paper records) including hydraulic data; 5km altitude data; tables for suitability modelling of grass and other crops; brief profile descriptions and series classification tables; tables for calculating available water (AP); Standardised series property and horizon data; Original NSI sampling data and analyses.
"MAFF-Rights"
Description: those datasets captured between 1987 and 1999 commissioned by MAFF:
Ownership: The IPR is owned by the Crown. Cranfield University granted rights to use this data and sub-licence. CU needs to keep records of licences taken out on MAFF rights data
Datasets included: Auger bores surveyed for specific MAFF projects distinguishable in the database from Augers collected for other clients during this time (⁓31000); Further analyses on original NSI samples – textures and additional elements; T200 climate stations and temperature data.
LandIS Addendum – 1st April 2003
"New Map Rights"
Description: rights to data captured from 1999 to 2003, specifically the re-digitisation of the National Soil Map as a vector dataset
Ownership: The IPR is owned by Cranfield. Crown users are granted rights to use for non-commercial purposes for specific uses for the cost of P&A only.
Datasets included:
NATMAP vector; updated series classification and new 1k, 5k summaries with extension into urban areas.