[okfn-discuss] How important is the right to publish open data?

Sun Jul 7 08:12:32 UTC 2013

On 7 Jul 2013, at 00:16, Gene Shackman <eval_gene at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I agree with Rob. There should be a clear indication from the start. But question: What about US Govt data, that appears, at first glance, to be "open". 
> 
> "A United States government work is prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties. It is not subject to copyright in the United States and there are no copyright restrictions on reproduction, derivative works, distribution, performance, or display of the work."
> 
> but then later, it says 
> 
> "Copyright laws differ internationally. While a U.S. government work is not protectable under U.S. copyright laws, the work may be protected under the copyright laws of other jurisdictions when used in these jurisdictions. The U.S. government may assert copyright outside of the United States for U.S. government works."
> 
> http://www.usa.gov/copyright.shtml
> 
> Is this data open? Open only when used in the US? Not open because it may not be open everywhere?

This is exactly the kind of fuzziness that I'm talking about. What if someone republishes US government works under an internationally open licence (eg CC0)? Does their ability to do that depend on whether they're in the US or not? Should we accept the result as open data because it's *probably* fine?

Related question: is anyone campaigning for the US to raise awareness or change that final clause and clear up this area of confusion for US government works?

Jeni
--
Jeni Tennison, Technical Director   theODI.org
+44 (0) 7974 420 482                @JeniT