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Louisiana

What is the law?

Binding, on-point law (about)

None

Advisory sources (about)

Several Louisiana Attorney General opinions indicate that the state may hold copyrights. La. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 01-82 (Feb. 26, 2002) (a parish Assessor's Office holds the copyright to computer code made for hire by an office employee); 1988-89 La. Op. Att'y Gen. 130 (1989) (School board hold copyright to employee-created software).

Public records law (about)

Louisiana first enacted a Public Records Act in 1940, and has had statutory rights of access to some records since the 1920s. See State v. Egan, 159 La. 199, 201, 105 So. 288, 289 (1925). The right of access to public documents was included in the 1974 Louisiana Constitution, which says that, "[n]o person shall be denied the right to observe the deliberations of public bodies and examine public documents, except in cases established by law." LSA-Const. Art. 12, § 3. The current Public Records Act is found at La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 44:1.

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

The public records law states that,"[t]he custodian shall make no inquiry of any person who applies for a public record," except that Lousiana law requires requestors to be over the age of majority and allows records custodians to verify that information. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §44:32(A). Fee waivers for indigent requestors may be provided, but only upon a showing of having a "public purpose." La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §44:32(C)(2). A records request may not be denied due to a requestor's commercial purpose. Title Research Corp. v. Rausch, 450 So. 2d 933, 938 (La. 1984); La. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 90-330 (July 26, 1990).

Specifics and examples (about)

Status Applies to... Based on?
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property of the Louisiana Economic Development and Gaming Corporation La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 27:221
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property of the Louisiana Lottery Corporation La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 47:9009
Copyrightable by administrative rule "All information published in the Louisiana Administrative Code or the Louisiana Register which includes, but is not limited to, cross references, tables of cases, notes of decisions, tables of contents, indices, source notes, authority notes, numerical lists, and codification guides, other than the actual text of rules or regulations" La. Admin. Code tit. 1, § 315
Copyrightable by Attorney General Opinion Intellectual property created by a School Board employee working within the scope of his or her employment Op.Atty.Gen., No. 88-575, Feb. 1, 1988

Additional things to consider (about)

Louisiana restricts public records requests persons "of the age of majority." La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 44:32.

The Lousiana code declares that, "[a]ny and all plans, designs, specifications, or other construction documents resulting from professional services paid for by any public entity shall remain the property of the public entity," La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 38:2317, and goes on to discuss authorized reuse of such designs, suggesting that the public entity retains the copyright.

The Louisiana.gov website says this about their website content: "Anyone may view, copy or distribute information found within these web pages (not including the design or layout of the pages) for personal or informational use without owing an obligation to the State if the documents are not modified in any respect, and unless otherwise stated on the particular materials or information to which a restriction on free use applies. The State makes no warranty, however, that the materials contained within these pages are free from copyright claims, or other restrictions or limitations on free use or display."

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