It's true that the UK has draconian Crown Copyright laws but it has been established that releasing information under the Freedom of information act does not violate copyright law.
However, it does stop you using and re-using the information you get in whatever way you want. It is worth noting, however, that Her Majesty's Stationery Office (the body that enforces Crown Copyright) has not brought any cases to court for violating Crown Copyright in their sole name. It is more common for departments to launch their own legal proceedings and inform HMSO. But this, too, happens infrequently and only involves money-making concerns. For example, since 1996 there have been nine cases involving OS mapping data and six cases instigated by the UK Hydrographic Office.
The reality is that unless you're going to make money by distributing the information, you are unlikely to be prosecuted. The point remains, though, that this is information gathered and generated at public expense so why should the public have to ask permission to use it? This is not the case in United States where information created or collected by a public official in the course of their public duties is copyright-free. There can be no real freedom of information until Crown Copyright is abolished.
I'm the author of 'Your Right to Know' and have put up a website to go along with the book: www.yrtk.org. You'll find lots of advice and various articles on FOI issues here (and links to buy the book, of course).
I'm making a number of requests myself and would be interested to hear from anyone who sends out a request whether under the freedom of information act or the new Environmental Information Regulations. Even if your request is rejected, I'd like to what lame excuse was given. I plan on collecting an archive of such rejections in order to create a Hall of Shame.
Slashdot Mirror
It's true that the UK has draconian Crown Copyright laws but it has been established that releasing information under the Freedom of information act does not violate copyright law. However, it does stop you using and re-using the information you get in whatever way you want. It is worth noting, however, that Her Majesty's Stationery Office (the body that enforces Crown Copyright) has not brought any cases to court for violating Crown Copyright in their sole name. It is more common for departments to launch their own legal proceedings and inform HMSO. But this, too, happens infrequently and only involves money-making concerns. For example, since 1996 there have been nine cases involving OS mapping data and six cases instigated by the UK Hydrographic Office. The reality is that unless you're going to make money by distributing the information, you are unlikely to be prosecuted. The point remains, though, that this is information gathered and generated at public expense so why should the public have to ask permission to use it? This is not the case in United States where information created or collected by a public official in the course of their public duties is copyright-free. There can be no real freedom of information until Crown Copyright is abolished.
I'm the author of 'Your Right to Know' and have put up a website to go along with the book: www.yrtk.org. You'll find lots of advice and various articles on FOI issues here (and links to buy the book, of course). I'm making a number of requests myself and would be interested to hear from anyone who sends out a request whether under the freedom of information act or the new Environmental Information Regulations. Even if your request is rejected, I'd like to what lame excuse was given. I plan on collecting an archive of such rejections in order to create a Hall of Shame.