Copyright clearance and takedown guidelines for digitised content

Wellcome Collection holds one of the world’s most important collections relating to the history of human and animal health. As part of our mission to improve human health, we are committed to making these materials freely available to researchers and the wider public, both through our library and museum, as well as online.

Copyright clearance

Wellcome Collection endeavours to check copyright status before making material available online, and where practical we try to contact rights holders to seek permission. We also carry out risk assessments to identify sensitive and/or personal data, in accordance with the Wellcome Collection Access Policy. 

We are not always able to identify and trace rights holders for our historic materials. In some cases, we may make this content available online without consent in the interests of accessibility, where we believe it will not cause damage to third parties.

Takedown of digitised content

If we are contacted by a potential rights holder who objects to the presence of specific content online, we will remove the material in question from our website until we have been able to assess the case.

Where material is removed for valid reasons of copyright, its removal will be considered as lasting until copyright in the material expires, or until the rights holder agrees that the material can be reinstated.

Where material is removed for valid reasons of data protection, its removal will be considered as temporary, and it will be restored at a date decided by an internal Wellcome review panel once it is no longer considered sensitive.

You can contact us about removal of material at digitisation@wellcomecollection.org, or write to us at the following address:

Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE
UK