Template talk:PD-WAGov

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See Image:Prison.jpg for confirmation that Washington State Government images on leg.wa.gov are public domain. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Andrew Levine (talk • contribs) 08:35, 18 January 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Washington State Law

I'm browsing the state laws right now (fun reading, let me tell ya...), and I'm finding that unless it is specifically listed as not releaseable, then it's considered part of the public record. Relevant statutes are:

• Chapter 42.17 RCW - Applies until July 1, 2006
• Chapter 42.56 RCW - Applies on and after July 1, 2006

Seems they rewrote the law and put it under a new heading. Still trying to find a definitive statement. McNeight 07:55, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Here we go. Revised Code of Washington (RCW); Title 42; Chapter 42.17; Section 42.17.251; Construction. (Effective until July 1, 2006.)

The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies that serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may maintain control over the instruments that they have created. The public records subdivision of this chapter shall be liberally construed and its exemptions narrowly construed to promote this public policy.

Moved to Revised Code of Washington (RCW); Title 42; Chapter 42.56; Section 42.56.030; Construction. (Effective July 1, 2006.)

Finally, under Revised Code of Washington (RCW); Title 40; Chapter 40.14; Section 40.14.010; Definition and classification of public records., we have:

As used in this chapter, the term "public records" shall include any paper, correspondence, completed form, bound record book, photograph, film, sound recording, map drawing, machine-readable material, compact disc meeting current industry ISO specifications, or other document, regardless of physical form or characteristics, and including such copies thereof, that have been made by or received by any agency of the state of Washington in connection with the transaction of public business, and legislative records as described in RCW 40.14.100.

Nice. Exceptions are spread throughout Chapter 42.17 (mixed in with campaign financing, lobbyist reporting, and political advertising; although it only applies until July 1, 2006), but they are neatly arranged in Chapter 42.56. IANAL, but I think that's about as definitive as it gets. McNeight 08:37, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

None of the citations seem to indicate that any public records are in the public domain. Wording similar to the citation above is found in a lot of state law, but that doesn't mean that the government doesn't claim copyright on any of the materials. JYolkowski // talk 15:36, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

I haven't researched it deeply, but the language of RCW 42.56.070 says that "Each agency,^[1] in accordance with published rules, shall make available for public inspection and copying all public records".

The RCW doesn't define "copying," but the normal usage of the word "copying" would indicate that permission to copy for public online use -- including on Wikipedia and free use downstream from Wikipedia -- is inherent in the law. The state may still hold copyright in the record, but the law says that records are available for anyone to copy. Anyone think any differently? If this is the case, is there a "complete permission granted for use of copyrighted work" tage that should be used? Perhaps {{CopyrightedFreeUse-Link}}? Travisl 23:01, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Contradicting myself now: here's some examples of where the state thinks it holds copyright. The Department of Ecology says "all text, data, images, audio, and video ... are the copyrighted property of the Washington State Department of Ecology.... Ecology specifically retains any rights, including possible copyright, that it may have in the Material.... Commercial use and commercial publication of the Material are specifically prohibited."

Washington State University says, "All standard graphics, photographs and text of the WSU Home Page and connected pages displaying the WSU logos and logotype are copyrighted and trademarked by WSU. Redistribution or commercial use are prohibited without express written permission."

But see the state Department of Health, which says, "Information presented by the government on this web site is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline credits is requested. Information from this site may not be copyrighted and lists of individuals or directory information (including address, phone or E-mail) may not be used for commercial purposes."

And another, the state Department of Financial Institutions, clearly allows use of its information, except for its "look and feel", logos, materials licensed from third parties, and some educational materials. DFI "is a public agency of the State of Washington, and, accordingly, the record of its official actions, as represented on this website, is public domain and subject to fair use. This includes recitation of Washington State Law and Regulations, together with the DFI’s press releases, bulletins, notices, interpretive statements, opinions, no action letters, rulings, orders, and the like, that have been reproduced on the website ... subject to the following restrictions and limitations..." (visit site for the list).

As clear as mud. We need to find someone who can give us a better legal opinion. Travisl 04:20, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

OK, after a long bit of research in the statutes, case law, and various law review articles, here's my final conclusion: What we're dealing with are copyrighted documents that anyone is allowed to copy. The state law, in a nutshell, is that every government agency -- from the State of Washington on down to local water districts -- shall allow copying of its records, and cannot ask what they're being used for.^[2] "Records" included just about anything related to the government agency, including pictures and symbols.^[3]

The state or agency, however, still holds the copyright in the information, and can restrict uses of it, but can't prevent it from being copied.

Thus, something like Template:NJDOT, for each agency, is likely required. Some agencies, such as Washington State University, expressly prohibit redistribution, so only a very restrictive fair use would be permitted, such as we find in Template:Seal. Others such as the Department of Financial Institutions, could have something like this:

This image is copyrighted by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions. WADFI allows anyone to use it for any purpose: Except for the content listed at their copyright page, their information is in the public domain. "The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (“DFI”) is a public agency of the State of Washington, and, accordingly, the record of its official actions, as represented on this website, is public domain and subject to fair use. This includes recitation of Washington State Law and Regulations, together with the DFI’s press releases, bulletins, notices, interpretive statements, opinions, no action letters, rulings, orders, and the like, that have been reproduced on the website." Please provide a source.

Similarly, the state DOT says "a publication published by WSDOT or the Transportation Commission may be photocopied in its entirety."

If I hear no objection in the next few days, I'll take this over to Wikipedia_talk:Image_copyright_tags and start trying to learn how to build Template:WA-GOV-FairUseOnly and Template:WA-GOV. Travisl 22:30, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

I object. These are not free. Freedom of Information is not the same as free content, and what you've found is a "freedom of information" law. Nowhere does it say that you may make or distribute derivative works, and without that, you're missing one of the key elements of free content. --Carnildo 00:14, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

It took me a few days to comprehend that, but yes, the more I've been thinking about it, the more I'm understanding the distinction. It's probably the case that Template:WA-GOV-FairUseOnly is redundant with other Fair Use tags, so I'll drop the idea of creating that one. But what of DFI, which explicitly states "the record of its official actions, as represented on this website, is public domain and subject to fair use"? I think that they don't understand the distinction, becuase there's no need for a fair use defense when using public domain documents. Perhaps their purported release into the public domain is meaningless with the "fair use" restriction attached.

If fair use isn't an option (e.g., using DFI's purple flower image for an article on flowers), is there no way to use copyrighted works when permission has been given for unlimited copying? Travisl 15:30, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Discounting their confusion of "fair use" and "public domain", it sounds like the only stuff on their website that isn't copyrighted is records of their official actions -- and I doubt there would be many images among those records. A template for DFI would just mislead people into using images that it doesn't apply to. --Carnildo 20:36, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] References

1. ^ Whatever we decide here would apply to just about every government in the state. As defined in RCW 42.56.010 referencing RCW 42.17.020, the word "agency" means "every state office, department, division, bureau, board, [or]commission [or every] county, city, town, municipal corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, or special purpose district, or any office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or agency thereof, or other local public agency."
2. ^ RCW 42.56.070(1), RCW 42.56.080
3. ^ 42.17.020(41), RCW 42.17.020(48)

[edit] Washington State Law - Not PD

OK, you've convinced me. I don't like the result (because realistically, I don't think the state is going to go after anyone for creating a derivative work), but by the letter of the law, it's not truly public domain. Fair use is required. Travisl 14:34, 29 March 2007 (UTC)