[open-government] Jason Kitcat, copyright and closed government

Mon Nov 1 20:02:25 UTC 2010

2010/11/2 Jim Killock <jim at openrightsgroup.org>

> Hi folks
>
> If you're concerned with abuse of copyright to keep government closed and
> create censorship, please consider signing our letter defending Jason
> Kitcat, a Brighton Councillor and Advisory member of ORG who posted Youtube
> clips of council meetings taken from Brighton and Hove Council's website.
> They are claiming that, as copyright materials, they are a 'resource' which
> Councillors may not use for political purposes.
>

Hi Jim,

Thanks for this. Are you able to provide any more details? Your link doesn't
provide a full explanation of the facts. I would like to  see the context in
which those videos were made. While videos seem prima facie as if they're
reliable, selective editing and commentary can mask the truth.

More broadly, I disagree with your statement that a council's enforcement of
their copyright creates censorship. They're not censuring anyone, they're
merely exercising their legal rights. As it stands, you've described a
situation where someone has acted outside their mandate, downloaded content
and then redistributed that content. That looks like theft. I'm sure
Councillor Kitcat could have raised a motion at the council to have its
officers post the content onto YouTube.

Please provide a fuller explanation of the facts.

Regards,

Tim McNamara
Masters candidate in Public Policy,
Victoria University of Wellington
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