In the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, the copyright of articles produced by civil servants, ministers and employees of government departments and agencies in the course of their duties belong to the Crown.
Government departments do not own copyright in their own right.
Copyright can also come into Crown ownership when the legal owner assigns or transfers the copyright to the Crown; for example, when a government department commissions a person or organisation to produce a report on its behalf.
When the corresponding author goes through the Next steps for publishing your article, they will be asked to agree to a license. There will be an opportunity to select the option of Crown copyright and the correct licence agreement will be generated.
For other copyright scenarios, see information on Non-Standard Copyright.