Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Professor Posts "Illegal Copy" of Guide To Oregon Public Record Laws

Posted by timothy on from the hey-man-I-paid-for-that dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Copyright law has previously been used by some states to try to prevent people from passing around copies of their own government's laws. But in a new level of meta-absurdity, the attorney general of Oregon is claiming copyright over a state-produced guide to using public-records laws. That isn't sitting well with one frequent user of the laws, who has posted a copy of the guide to his website and is daring the AG to respond. The AG, who previously pledged to improve responses to public-records requests, has not responded yet." The challenger here is University of Oregon Professor Bill Harbaugh.

4 of 318 comments (clear)

  1. Inherintly unconstitutional by afidel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How can the law which every citizen expected to comply with be allowed to exist under Copyright? How can keeping us from copying the law possibly be an advancement of the sciences and useful arts? Once it becomes law it is no longer a creative work and is now a fact, a fact which is by its very nature that which least deserves to be kept from the public.

    --
    There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    1. Re:Inherintly unconstitutional by samcan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      U.S. government works are automatically public domain. Shouldn't state government materials be the same way?

      The latest absurdity to come out of my home state. (The first was yesterday.) And I thought Kroger was a good guy, for a Democrat.

    2. Re:Inherintly unconstitutional by commodore64_love · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Even if I bought your explanation, the book was produced by Oregon taxpayers so it the copyright holder is *them* not the AG who is just an employee of the taxpayer. QED the book should be freely-copyable by the people who paid the bill (Oregonians).

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  2. Re:So let me get this right; by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 5, Insightful

    passive-aggressive

    Or you could call it civil disobedience. He is deliberately calling out the AG so he can hopefully win without the trouble, time, and expense of a court fight.

    --
    I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.