Oregon to hold hearings on whether its laws are copyrighted

Cory Doctorow 4:35 pm Wed May 21, 2008

Rogue archivist Carl Malamud writes in with the latest news on the fight with the State of Oregon's claim that Oregon's laws are copyrighted:

Last week, we posted a draft declaratory judgment action indicating our seriousness in getting to the bottom of the controversy over copyright on Oregon state law, and asked people on the net to comment. Today, we received a letter today from the Legislative Counsel of the State of Oregon. The letter says:

"The established policy of the committee – unchanged since 1953 – has been to copyright those portions of the Oregon Revised Statutes that are not the actual law itself. Your clients advocate a change in that copyright policy. The committee wishes to meet to consider its copyright policy in light of technological developments and the Internet. The Legislative Assembly is not currently in session, so getting immediate policy direction from the committee is not possible. The committee plans to meet on June 19, 2008, and would be interested in hearing testimony from you or your clients on the changes your clients seek in the copyright policy of the committee."

(Thanks, Carl!)

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