Secrecy News -- 07/08/04 (IF)

[emil.levine at chello.at]

Government agencies cannot copyright material paid for with taxpayer 
funds, including
contractually prepared documents.

Emile Levine

>
>  Betreff: RE: Secrecy News -- 07/08/04 (IF)
>
>  Thanks for the close reading.  You're right that there are some gaps in
>  the argument.
>
>  I would answer this way:  I do take copyright issues seriously, but I
>  did not find the Army's explanation for its move to restrict
>  reproduction of the "On Point" report to be persuasive.
>
>  The Army could have limited access only to that handful of pages
>  containing AP photos or other proprietary graphics, or it could have
>  withheld those graphics altogether.  Instead, it chose to curtail public
>  access -- albeit not very effectively -- to the entire 500+ page report.
>
>  Since I believe that the public is entitled to read the report, I salute
>  those who took the trouble to make it more readily available.  On the
>  other hand, if anyone were to take advantage of the disclosure to
>  convert the document into a commercial product, in violation of existing
>  copyright protections, that would be contemptible.
>
>  Steven Aftergood

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