User:Peteforsyth/leg
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Representative __:
I am writing to encourage you to introduce or support legislation that would place works of the government of Oregon (and perhaps of local governments in Oregon) in the public domain.
Works of the Federal government are already in the public domain, and Oregon should adopt a similar policy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_of_the_United_States_Government
In an age when the repackaging of information for varied uses is becoming commonplace - frequently on weblogs, Wikipedia, and other Internet media - the necessity for ordinary citizens to remain attentive to copyright increasingly inhibits their ability to work for the common good.
If I may illustrate the importance of such a change with two examples. The first shows a case where the present law does not pose an impediment, but demonstrates the value of public use of state data. The second shows how copyright protections act as an impediment to voluntary work for the public good.
- (1) The State-produced Oregon Blue Book maintains a web page that details all ballot measures, and their results, since 2000. This page is a valuable resource, but lacks modern conveniences such as links to the text of the ballot measures, the ability to sort on number of votes cast in favor, etc. http://bluebook.state.or.us/state/elections/elections22a.htm
- A reconstruction of that page on Wikipedia, combined with other government-supplied data and linked to other Wikipedia entries, provides a resource that allows anyone with Internet access to study the history of ballot measures with great ease: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Oregon_ballot_measures#2000s
- (2) The Blue Book also maintains maps of state Senate districts, but retains copyright over those images. http://bluebook.state.or.us/state/legis/legis15c.htm
- The images maintained by the Blue Book, when taken as a whole, do provide complete information about district boundaries. They do not, however, allow a reader to easily get an overview of where every district in the state lies. They do not take advantage of coloring, or complement each other very well.
- I have created three images which I believe do a better job of that. By extensively modifying the state-provided images, I believe I have avoided copyright violation, but to be honest, I am not certain that is true. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_State_Senate#Senators_of_the_2005_Legislative_Session
Remaining attentive to such copyright issues is time-consuming and difficult for those not trained in copyright law. At times, a Wikipedia article or other public resource would be best-served by copying a government-generated resource wholesale; but as I understand it, that is not currently allowed.
To encourage the use of the commons presented by resources like Wikipedia, please consider making a law that will place state-generated resources in the public domain.
Sincerely, ___
