Dissemination Permit
Here are some common questions about dissemination permits for aerial photographs.
How long does it take to get a distribution permit?
If you apply today, you will receive a decision within 7 working days.
We handle cases in the order we receive the material. The processing time can vary depending on how many cases are in the queue and the extent of the material.
Why the processing time is longer during certain periods (in Swedish, new window).
Application
When you submit your application, you can choose how you want to submit your material in the application form. If you choose “File submission service”, you will receive a link to Lantmäteriet's file submission service in the confirmation email that you receive when the case is registered. If you choose “Trackable delivery”, you will receive the postal address where the material is to be sent by traceable shipping.
You need to apply for a new dissemination permit for each new photograph/film you collect even if it is from the same location. Lantmäteriet reviews the submitted material from a total defence perspective. Protected objects can be added or removed over time, which means that you cannot apply for a distribution permit in advance.
Lantmäteriet handles cases concerning dissemination permits in the order that the material is received to Lantmäteriet. All applications are handled in the same queue, regardless of who the applicant is (authorities, media, companies, or private individuals) who have submitted the application.
The application needs to be complete to end up in our queue management system. For an application to be considered complete, we must have received all the information, including data materials such as pictures and videos.
It does not matter who is applying for a dissemination permit. If the material is approved, anyone may disseminate the material from a total defence perspective.
Problems with your application
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Format
File submission service works best if the files are no more than 5 GB/file and if each upload has a maximum of 50 GB. If necessary, you can split and pack your files by using a compression program, such as 7-zip (Windows) or Keka (MacOS).
If you have very large amounts of data, you can send the material in an external storage media with traceable shipping. Then you select “Trackable delivery” in the application for how you want to submit the material. Your external storage media will be returned to you when the case is closed.
We can only give dissemination permit for the material that we receive for review. If you submit a low-resolution material for review, you are only permitted to disseminate that material.
Only the material intended to be disseminated should be submitted. If it is the same image in several different file formats, it is enough to submit the image in one format. Choose the one with the highest resolution. If we need to retouch it, for example an orthophoto, it is only the retouched material you can use for dissemination.
Dissemination Permit
Dissemination is when you make the material available to others, for example by sending it by e-mail, publish it on a website or social media, store it in cloud services, and so on. Publishing the material in print media or showing it at an exhibition also counts as dissemination.
You may show your material to a few family members or friends without permission to dissemination. You also do not need to apply for a dissemination permit for material used within the organisation, authority, or company if only a few people can take part of it.
File the case ad acta:
We have closed the case without action. If you do not send in material, we will close the case after a certain period of time. This may also be, due to the fact that the material is counted as an exception and therefore does not need a dissemination permit.
Denied:
You have not received a dissemination permit with reference to defence secrecy according to Chapter 15, Section 2 of the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act.
Approved:
You have received a dissemination permit for your material.
Approved with conditions:
You may only distribute the material that we have sent back and create follow-up products based on it. The original data sent to Lantmäteriet may not be disseminated. All copies of the original data set should be deleted.
Partial approval:
You have been denied a dissemination permit for some parts of the material submitted.
There is no requirement for a dissemination permit if you are at a higher altitude (for example a mountain peak, a high-rise building, or a crane), that counts as you have ground contact. Dissemination permits are required only when you collect material from an aircraft such as drones, planes, helicopters, or hot air balloons. However, you may never photograph anything that has an imaging ban.
For photos and films taken before 1950, no dissemination permit is required. Neither is permit required if the photographer was entitled to self-review at the time the photos/films was collected.The right to self-review was removed in May 2016.
Deliberately or negligently publishing photos, videos or similar recordings from aircraft is a violation of the Act on the Protection of Geographical Information (2016:319), which can lead to fines or imprisonment.
Generally
An aircraft includes all crafts flying in the air, such as aircrafts, helicopters, hot air balloons, controllable parachutes, and drones.
No, regardless of what flight altitude you have or what time during the day you photograph/film, you must have a dissemination permit to be allowed to distribute the material. However, the dissemination of vertical images taken from satellites with a resolution of less than 0.5 meters is exempt from the permit requirement.
There are some exceptions such as described on:
More information about exceptions is described in the document:
There is nothing secret about the horizon, but when you angle the camera up, you get a larger surface, which increases the risk that you get something that is sensitive to Sweden´s total defense. With such large areas, it will also be difficult to get the material in under an exception.
The biggest problem, however, is that objects that stick out above the horizon are seen much more clearly than if, for example, there is a forest in the background.
In general, it is not permitted to broadcast live from drones or other aircrafts because you will then be distributing the material without a dissemination permit. However, there are exceptions, for example live broadcasts of concerts and sports and sporting events that are open to the public if the pictures only show the event area.
Sales
No, the distribution permit you have previously received applies. If the material is approved, it is free for anyone to spread it from a total defence perspective.
No, there is no requirement that the case number for a distribution permit must be stated at the time of distribution, but it may be good to have the information on hand in case anyone asks.