Yeah, the BBC has a bit more clout than us. I'd email them asking for explicit permission, if I were you.
Andrew Gray wrote:
2009/1/30 AndrewRT raturvey@yahoo.co.uk:
My knowledge of copyright law is limited, but surely if the BBC creates a photograph of an object which is in the public domain, they still own the copyright to the photograph?
Probably.
In the US, this doesn't apply. In the UK... it probably does, but there isn't much recent caselaw AIUI and if someone took it to court it could potentially go either way. I'd bet on the court ruling for them retaining the rights, though.