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

Mon Nov 1 20:15:26 UTC 2010

The use of copyright to limit the political expression of elected officials
is censorship IMHO. Government use of copyright to constrain political
activity may be within the law, but I don't think such a right has been
exercised. This could be a huge test case. Ultimately, any constraint that
limits reuse of government information and data for political purposes is an
attack on open government.

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2010/11/1 Tim McNamara <paperless at timmcnamara.co.nz>

> 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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