Technology & Digital

Publishing compliance checklist

A confirmation checklist for publishing businesses. Work through the cross-cutting duties every publisher shares, then the section for what you publish — print and periodical, or software and video games.

UK-wide
On this page
UK-wide

Related guides in Data Protection

Software licensing compliance

Understand your legal obligations when using, developing, or distributing software - including open source licensing, commercial agreements, and …

Confirm the obligations that apply to your publishing business are in place. Start with section 1, which applies to every publisher, then complete the section for what you publish. Where a duty differs by nation, the item says so.

Section 1 — Every publishing business

  1. 1

    Clear copyright in what you publish

    Secure or license the rights in the works you publish, respect moral rights and third-party copyright, and clear permissions for reproduced material. UK-wide.

  2. 2

    Protect personal data and pay the ICO fee

    Handle subscriber, contributor and staff data under the UK GDPR; unless exempt, register and pay the ICO data protection fee. UK-wide.

  3. 3

    Follow the electronic marketing rules

    Meet PECR consent rules for email, SMS and telephone marketing and for cookies on your website. Enforced by the ICO. UK-wide.

  4. 4

    Insure your employees

    At least £5 million employers' liability cover from an authorised insurer if you employ anyone (Great Britain; equivalent rules in Northern Ireland).

  5. 5

    Manage workplace health and safety

    Protect employees and others in editorial offices, print sites and warehousing under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Great Britain; equivalent in Northern Ireland).

  6. 6

    Assess fire safety

    Carry out and maintain a fire risk assessment of your non-domestic premises (Fire Safety Order in England and Wales; separate regimes in Scotland and Northern Ireland).

  7. 7

    Avoid discrimination

    Comply with the Equality Act 2010 (Great Britain) or Northern Ireland equality law in employment and in services to the public.

Section 2 — Print and periodical publishing

  1. 1

    Deposit copies with the legal deposit libraries

    Deposit one copy of every printed publication with the British Library within one month of publication, and with the five other libraries on request; online publications are covered too. UK-wide.

  2. 2

    Meet consumer subscription rules

    Give pre-contract information, fair terms and cancellation rights for consumer subscriptions; meet auto-renewal and reminder duties as the DMCC Act 2024 provisions (enforced by the Competition and Markets Authority) are commenced.

  3. 3

    Handle directory and mailing-list data lawfully

    Hold a lawful basis, honour the PECR regulation 18 directory opt-out and direct-marketing objections, and satisfy UK GDPR transparency on any onward sale of lists.

Section 3 — Software and video-game publishing

  1. 1

    Get a statutory age rating for video games

    Have non-exempt video games classified (PEGI) by the Video Standards Council / Games Rating Authority before supply — supplying an unrated game is a criminal offence. UK-wide.

  2. 2

    Protect and license your software copyright

    Record authorship and ownership, set clear licence terms, and respect third-party and open-source licences in what you ship.

  3. 3

    Check your Online Safety Act position

    If your game has chat, multiplayer or user-generated content, check whether it is a user-to-user service with illegal-content and child-safety duties under the Online Safety Act 2023.

Related guides

The guides this checklist confirms.