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Oklahoma

What is the law?

Binding, on-point law (about)

None

Advisory sources (about)

In 1982, the Oklahoma Attorney General held that, "[t]he State of Oklahoma and its agencies, such as the Oklahoma Historical Society, may acquire, own and hold copyrights existing by virtue of federal law." Okla. Op. Att'y Gen. 167 (1982).

Public records law (about)

Oklahoma has had a statutory right of access for public records since 1941. Oklahoma Statutes, 1941. Title 51. Section 24, cited in Harold L. Cross, The People's Right to Know: Legal Access to Public Records and Proceedings, 345 (1953). The current Open Records Act, enacted in 1978, is found at Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 51, § 24A.1.

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

Public agencies are allowed to require a higher fee for commercial purposes, Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 51, § 24A.5(3). Additionally, in some circumstances an intended commercial use may bar disclosure of the records altogether. Cnty. Records, Inc. v. Armstrong, 2012 OK 60, 299 P.3d 865, as corrected on denial of reh'g (Apr. 8, 2013); Merrill v. Oklahoma Tax Comm'n, 1992 OK 53, 831 P.2d 634.

Specifics and examples (about)

Status Applies to... Based on?
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual Property of the Oklahoma Science and Technology Research and Development Board Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 74, § 5060.9(16)
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property of the Oklahoma Lottery Commission Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 3A, § 709(A)(3)
Copyrightable by statute "copyrighted material developed by contracts subject to The Central Purchasing Act" Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 74, § 85.60(B)
Copyrightable by statute Intellectual property of the Will Rogers Memorial Commission Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 53, § 47.3
"property of the state and may be reproduced only with the written consent of the Secretary [of State]" "The codification system, derivations, cross references, notes of decisions, source notes, authority notes, numerical lists, and codification guides, other than the actual text of rules, indexes, tables and other aids relevant to the publication of the "Oklahoma Administrative Code" and "The Oklahoma Register"" [1] Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 75, § 256(F)(1)

Additional things to consider (about)

Several places in the Oklahoma code refer to government writings as "property of the state": Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 45, § 33 ("All books, records, apparatus, instruments and chemicals pertaining to his office shall be the property of the state"); Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 75, § 256(F)(1) (ancillary materials "relevant to the publication of the "Oklahoma Administrative Code" and "The Oklahoma Register" shall be the property of the state").

Under Oklahoma law, "[t]he Secretary of the Archives and Records Commission in person, or through a deputy authorized by him, shall have the right of access to all public records and archives of this state," and "the Attorney General may replevin any public records or archives illegally removed which were formerly part of the records or files of any public office of the Territory or of the State of Oklahoma." Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 67, § 311.

Where else to go

Bibliography

Cases

Statutes

Oklahoma statutes are available at http://www.oklegislature.gov/tsrs_os_oc.aspx. Direct links to the titles are below.

Administrative Rules

Attorney General Opinions

Other

Footnotes