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Florida

Copyright Status: Green

Openness Score: 3.29

What is the law?

Binding, on-point law (about)

A Florida court held in Microdecisions, Inc. v. Skinner, 889 So. 2d 871 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2004) that public records may not be copyrighted. This decision interpreted the Sunshine Amendment to the state constitution, Fla. Const. art. I, § 24, and the Florida Public Records Law, Fla. Stat. Ann. § 119.01, to preclude copyright of state documents, unless the state code elsewhere explicitly allows for copyright protection. This was the second decision nationally, after the Second Circuit's analysis of New York law, to address the copyright status of government documents, and was the first to declare state documents to be public domain.

Advisory sources (about)

Numerous Florida Attorney General opinions affirm the public domain status of specific public domain records. See, for example, Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 03-42 (2003) (Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps not copyrightable); Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 88-23 (1988) (videotapes of training sessions created by the state attorney's office); Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 00-13 (2000) (state agencies require specific statutory authorization to obtain trademarks as well as copyrights).

Public records law (about)

The right to access public records has been included in the Florida constitution since the Sunshine Amendment was passed in 1992. Fla. Const. art. I, § 24. Florida's oldest public records law was enacted in 1982. The current public records law can be found at Fla. Stat. Ann. § 119.01.

Does the public records law restrict the use of disclosed records?

The Microdecision case as well as several others have held that the purpose of a public records request is immaterial under the public records law. Microdecisions, Inc. v. Skinner, 889 So. 2d 871, 875 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2004); News-Press Publ'g Co. v. Gadd, 388 So. 2d 276, 278 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1980); Lorei v. Smith, 464 So. 2d 1330 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1985). Furthermore, a commercial purpose does not change this determination. State ex rel. Davis v. McMillan, 49 Fla. 243, 38 So. 666 (1905).

Specifics and examples (about)

Status Applies to... Based on?
Public domain by judicial decision County geographic information system (GIS) maps [1] Microdecisions v. Skinner, specific topic of litigation; Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 03-42 (2003)
Public domain by judicial decision Trial judge pronouncements unless otherwise covered by designated exception Miami Herald Publ'g Co. v. State, 363 So. 2d 603, 605 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1978)
Public domain by state Attorney General Opinion Videotapes of training sessions created by the state attorney's office Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 88-23 (1988)
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property owned by the Department of the Lottery Fla. Stat. Ann. § 24.105(10)
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property owned by the Department of Citrus Fla. Stat. Ann. § 601.101
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property owned by Florida public universities Fla. Stat. Ann. § 1004.23(1)
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property owned by the Department of Law Enforcement Fla. Stat. Ann. § 943.146(2)(a)
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property owned by Florida water management districts Fla. Stat. Ann. § 373.608(1)
Copyrightable by statute Department of Health data released subject to a data-use agreement Fla. Stat. Ann. § 119.0712(1)(d)
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property owned by the State Board of Administration, on behalf of the Florida Retirement System Fla. Stat. Ann. § 215.4701
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property owned by Space Florida Fla. Stat. Ann. § 331.355
Copyrightable by statute data processing software created by a state agency Fla. Stat. Ann. § 119.084(2)
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property owned by the Department of State; all copyrights held by state agencies to be administered by Department of State Fla. Stat. Ann. § 286.021; Fla. Stat. Ann. § 286.031
Exempt from public records disclosure Records donated to the state archives under special terms or conditions; exemption is removed 50 years from date of creation Fla. Stat. Ann. § 257.38(4)

Additional things to consider (about)

Since the Florida courts require an explicit grant of copyrightability in order for the state to hold copyrights, many statutes do explicitly provide for state copyright, as seen in the examples above.

One Florida statute refers to court records as "property of the state of Florida," Fla. Stat. Ann. § 28.24. It is unclear if this would count as explicit authorization under Microdecision.

Florida law also provides for recovery of unlawfully withheld records, stating, "Whoever is entitled to custody of public records shall demand them from any person having illegal possession of them, who must forthwith deliver the same." Fla. Stat. Ann. § 119.021(4)(b).

The State Archives of Florida states that all material transferred to their custody under a Deed of Gift becomes the property of the Archives. State Archives of Florida, Collection Development Policy.

Where else to go

Bibliography

Statutes

Cases

Attorney General Opinions

Other

Footnotes