Ghost Signs Terms and Conditions

These terms and conditions set out the basis on which you may contribute to the ghost signs map on the Historic England website. Please read these terms and conditions carefully.

1. Words used in these Terms and Conditions

In these Contribution Terms and Conditions, the following definitions apply: 

Contribution means a written comment and/or photographs submitted for publication on the Website; 

List means the National Heritage List for England available in electronic form on the Website; 

Privacy Policy means the privacy policy set out at historicengland.org.uk/terms/privacy-cookies; 

Registration means the registration processes that you must complete to upload your Contribution; 

Terms and Conditions means the terms and conditions set out in this document; 

Username the unique identifier assigned to you upon Registration; 

"We", "us" or "our" means Historic England, The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England whose principal office is at 4th Floor, Cannon Bridge House, 25 Dowgate Hill, London EC4R 2YA; 

Website means the Historic England website; and 

Website Terms of Use means the website terms and conditions of use set out in our Website Terms and Conditions. 

2. Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions set out the basis and process for submitting your Contribution for publication on the Website. By completing the Registration process, you agree that your participation in and any Contribution you make will be subject to these Terms and Conditions, the Website Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy. 

You confirm that you are at least 13 years old. 

3. Content of your Contribution

Your Contributions must: 

  • relate to the subject matter of ghost signs; 
  • not be defamatory, offensive, vexatious or unlawful; 
  • not infringe anyone else's rights (including intellectual property and privacy rights); 
  • not include personal information about any living third party; and 
  • not promote or further any business activities or with a view to commercial and/or personal gain. 

4. Photography

It is your responsibility to ensure that any photographs submitted as part of your Contribution have been taken with the written consent of anyone who is identifiable from your photograph. This includes the individual’s parent or legal guardian if the individual is under 18. You must inform them that their photograph may be published as part of your Contribution in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. 

It is also advisable to obtain consent for any brand names, logos, signs, or car registration plates that appear prominently in your photograph. You must retain a physical and/or electronic copy of any such consent. 

When taking photographs for your Contribution you must: 

  • not trespass on private property. Should you wish to gain access to private property in order to take a photograph you must always obtain prior consent from the owner of the property and obtain prior consent from the owner of the property to submit such photographs as part of your Contribution; 
  • immediately stop if the property owner communicates to you that they do not want you to photograph the property and not submit any Contribution containing the photographs taken by yourself at the property in question; 
  • carry a form of personal identification (for example your driving licence) at all times in the event that you are asked to identify yourself and/or explain your presence when taking photographs to submit as part of your Contribution; and 
  • not take any unnecessary risks or break any laws when taking your photographs or obtaining any material required for your Contribution. 

Images submitted within your Contribution must comply with the Contribution guidance provided on the Website. 

We accept no responsibility for any injury or death incurred or any third-party claims arising from your Contribution. 

5. Ownership of your Contribution

You confirm that your Contribution is made in your personal (rather than business) capacity or in your capacity as an authorised representative of a business, public authority or voluntary organisation and that such Contribution does not actively promote or further any business activities and has not been contributed for or with a view to commercial and/or personal gain. 

By submitting your Contribution (which for the avoidance of doubt includes photographs submitted by you) you grant to Historic England a non-exclusive, royalty free, perpetual, irrevocable, sub-licensable, worldwide licence, to publish and use your Contribution (or any part of it) for the purpose of promoting the work of Historic England. This includes, but is not limited to, using your Contribution on the Website, on or in connection with the List, or for any other non-commercial purposes. 

You (or the copyright owner) remain the owner of copyright in your Contribution.  

To the fullest extent permissible under applicable law you waive and shall procure from any third party the waiver of, the exercise against us of all moral rights in your Contribution that are or become vested in the you and/or any third party. 

6. Review and publication of your Contribution

We will review your Contribution before it is published and we reserve the right at our sole discretion to withhold publication, refuse publication or edit any Contribution that you submit. 

In the event that your Contribution breaches the requirements of clause 3 your Contribution will not be published on the Website. The decision as to whether or not your Contribution breaches the requirements of clause 3 will be at our sole discretion.  

In appropriate circumstances and at our sole discretion, if your Contribution is withheld under these Terms and Conditions you may be given the opportunity to resubmit a suitably amended valid Contribution. In such cases you will be contacted using the email address provided during the Registration process. 

Unless we invite you to resubmit a Contribution, a declined Contribution may not be resubmitted. 

Whilst we aim to publish valid Contributions within 72 working hours, there may be instances where it could take longer. You will not receive a notification of publication. 

By submitting your Contribution, you do so at your own risk. We will not anonymise any Contribution that you make and you understand and acknowledge that individuals, businesses, public authorities and voluntary organisations will be able to access your Contribution and to associate it with you (including but not limited to your name, profile picture and photographs). 

Your Contribution will be made publicly available on the Website and you may be identified as the author of it but you acknowledge that we are under no duty to do so. 

We will not be responsible for any adverse attention that you may receive as a result of your Contribution. 

7. Removal of your Contribution

Contributions will remain published on the Website for as long as they are considered by us to remain relevant. 

We reserve the right to remove your Contribution without notice. 

You can request for your Contribution to be removed or amended by contacting [email protected]. In order to verify your identity, you may be required to confirm your name, Username and the email address provided at the time of Registration. 

8. Suspension and blocking

If you repeatedly attempt to submit Contributions in breach of these Terms and Conditions or if you repeatedly breach these Terms and Conditions, we may (in our sole discretion) suspend or permanently block your ability to submit a Contribution. 

The decision as to whether you have persistently breached the requirements of these Terms and Conditions will be at our sole discretion. 

9. Your liability

If you submit a Contribution in breach of the publishing criteria set out in clause 3 above, these Terms and Conditions and/or the applicable provisions of our Website Terms of Use, whether or not your Contribution is published you will be responsible for any losses, expenses or other costs incurred by us as a result of any claims brought by a third party against us arising out of or in connection with the content of your Contribution.

10. No reliance on information

Contributions displayed on our Website do not represent the official position of Historic England. 

Publication of your Contribution on the Website is not an endorsement of your Contribution by Historic England. 

Any Contribution is not intended to amount to a representation, advice or authority on which reliance should be placed. We make no promise and give no assurance that any information displayed on the Website is accurate, complete or up to date. 

11. Our liability

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by English law. 

We will not be liable to any user of the Website for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with: 

  • use of, or inability to use, the  Website; or 
  • use of or reliance on any content, including any Contribution displayed on the Website. 

12. Privacy

We will use personal information provided by you in connection with your Registration and Contribution.  Please note that our privacy policy is set out in the Historic England Privacy Policy a copy of which is available at our Privacy and Cookies pages. 

13. Freedom of information

You acknowledge that we are subject to the requirements of the Code of Practice on Government Information and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Further details of how to make a FOIA request of Historic England are available from our Access to Information pages. 

14. Updates to these Terms and Conditions

We reserve the right to change these Terms and Conditions from time to time without prior notice by changing them on the Website. The Terms and Conditions applicable to the submission of your Contribution will be those in force at the time you submit your Contribution. 

15. General

In the event of a conflict between these Terms and Conditions and the Website Terms of Use these Terms and Conditions shall prevail. 

We may sub-license, assign or otherwise dispose of our rights under these Terms and Conditions in whatever way to any other legal or natural person on whatever terms we deem appropriate in our sole discretion. 

Each of the paragraphs of these Terms and Conditions operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect. 

If we fail to insist that you perform any obligation under these Terms and Conditions, or if we do not enforce rights against you, or if we delay in doing so, that will not mean that we have waived our rights against you and will not mean that you do not have to comply with those obligations. If we waive a default by you, we will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that we will automatically waive any later default by you. 

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions and no action taken by us or you under these Terms and Conditions shall create, or be deemed to create a partnership, joint venture or establish a relationship of principal and agent.  

The Terms and Conditions shall be governed by the law of England and Wales and the parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.  

These Terms and Conditions were last updated on 9 November 2023.