The Churchill Copyright
To answer frequently asked questions, here are the rules governing copyright to the books, articles, speeches and papers of Winston S. Churchill:
1. Non-Commercial Use
The copyright in Sir Winston Churchill’s papers, literary works and those papers of which he was the author, did not form part of the 1995 purchase by the British Government, but remains (under the terms of Sir Winston’s will) the property of his family, except where it has been separately assigned. No charge is made in the case of reproduction for academic research. Certain educational or non-profit organizations such as the Hillsdale College Churchill Project are granted the right to reproduce (with acknowledgement) copyright material without charge.
2. Commercial Use
In the usual way, any use of copyright material for commercial publication requires a license issued by Curtis Brown Ltd, the UK literary agents, who handle the copyright of the Estate of Sir Winston Churchill. The fee will vary depending on the scale and importance of the publication involved, and the charge for educational use is substantially reduced. Enquiries regarding commercial use of the Churchill copyright should be addressed to the Estate’s literary agent: Curtis Brown Ltd., Haymarket House, 28/29 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4SP, England. Or visit to their website, fill in the form and send it to the ‘Churchill Permissions’ email address indicated there and above. It takes 4-6 weeks to process requests.
My comments on the 1995 acquisition of the Churchill Papers (“The Largest Single Private Repository of Recent British History”) are not posted here. For a copy of the article please contact me.