Main Content

North Carolina

What is the law?

Binding, on-point law (about)

None

Advisory sources (about)

None

Related law (about)

McKenna v. Lee, 318 F. Supp. 2d 296 (E.D.N.C. 2002) aff'd, 53 F. App'x 268 (4th Cir. 2002), presented a case of a state prison inmate who asserted a copyright interest in a design he created while incarcerated in the state penitentiary which was later used as a state license plate design. The court determined that the design was a work-made-for-hire, and that the copyright could not be held by the inmate. The case may imply that the copyright in the design was therefore held by the state, but did not directly address that issue. It is possible, after McKenna, that the inmate did not own the copyright and, instead, the design was a public record in the public domain.

Public records law (about)

The first North Carolina Public Records law was enacted in 1935. The current Public Records Law can be found at N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 132-1 et seq. and states that public records are "the property of the people."

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

By law, "[n]o person requesting to inspect and examine public records, or to obtain copies thereof, shall be required to disclose the purpose or motive for the request." N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 132-6(b). A county or city in North Carolina may require that the recipient of geographic data not use the data commercially, but the statute indicates that use of the data in news media or by real estate trade associations does not qualify as a commercial purpose under the exception. N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 132-10.

Specifics and examples (about)

Additional things to consider (about)

The website of the State Archives of North Carolina, the official repository for North Carolina state documents under N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 121-2, states that "[a]ll public state and local records in the custody of the State Archives of North Carolina are in the public domain and may be cited and published without permission." State Archives of North Carolina, Permissions and Citations.

The North Carolina public records law states that "The public records and public information compiled by the agencies of North Carolina government or its subdivisions are the property of the people." N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 132-1. Elsewhere in the state code, however, specific records are referred to as "property of the state": N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 70-13 ("The archaeological resources which are collected, excavated or removed from State lands and associated records and data will remain the property of the State"); N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 7A-95 ("the original tapes, notes, discs or other records are the property of the State"). [2]

North Carolina law provides penalties for unlawful possession of public records. N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 132-5.

Where else to go

• North Carolina Guide to Open Government and Public Records, available at http://www.ncdoj.gov/getdoc/ef04d580-eee7-4cfe-b2ec-06c26a6f95b9/AG-open-government-booklet-4-8-08.aspx.
• North Carolina Department of Justice, Understanding Public Records, available at http://www.ncdoj.gov/top-issues/public-integrity/open-government/understanding-public-records.aspx.
• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in North Carolina, available at http://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/ogg/NC.pdf.
• State Archives of North Carolina, available at http://www.ncdcr.gov/archives/Home.aspx.
• State Library of North Carolina, available at http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/.

Bibliography

Cases

• McKenna v. Lee, 318 F. Supp. 2d 296 (E.D.N.C. 2002) aff'd, 53 F. App'x 268 (4th Cir. 2002), available at http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12291618717109581710.

Statutes

• N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 132-1, available at http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_132.html.

• N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 132-6, available at http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_132.html.

• N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 132-10, available at http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_132.html.

• N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 121-21, available at http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_121.html.

• N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 143B-426.11(1), available at http://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_143b/gs_143b-426.11.html.

• N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 70-13, available at http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/statutes/statutelookup.pl?statute=70-13.

• N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 7A-95, available at http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/statutes/statutelookup.pl?statute=7A-95.

Attorney General Opinions

• Advisory Opinion; General Statutes Database; Applicability of the Michie Company Copyright; 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.; Limiting Third Party Access; G.S. 132-1 et seq., G.S. 12-3.1, available at http://www.ncdoj.gov/About-DOJ/Legal-Services/Legal-Opinions/Opinions/General-Statutes-Database;-Applicability-of-the-Mi.aspx.

Other

• Sharon K. Sandeen, Preserving the Public Trust in State-Owned Intellectual Property: A Recommendation for Legislative Action, 32 McGeorge L. Rev. 385 (2001).

• State Archives of North Carolina, Permissions and Citations, available at http://www.ncdcr.gov/archives/Public/Services/PermissionsAndCitations.aspx.

Footnotes

• [1] The Advisory opinion reads that "Case law supports our view that 'the law' cannot be reduced to property through copyright and that the public must have free access to state laws, unhampered by any claim of copyright, whether that claim be made by an individual or by the state itself."
• [2] There is a colorable argument that the statement that all public records are the "property of the people" is a stronger statement of intent than the alternate "property of the state" language, or, alternately, that the "property of the people" statutes create exceptions to an otherwise broad statement of public ownership. In either event, none of these laws differentiate physical ownership from intellectual property. It is, however, hard to imagine the linguistic interpretation necessary for the state to retain intellectual property rights in documents which are "the property of the people." For a discussion of the idea that public documents are held in trust for the people by the state, and the implication of that doctrine for records' copyright status, see Sharon K. Sandeen, Preserving the Public Trust in State-Owned Intellectual Property: A Recommendation for Legislative Action, 32 McGeorge L. Rev. 385 (2001).