Oregon - Copyrighting the law?

This isn't exactly new news, but it's still interesting. Apparently the State of Oregon - my state of residence - has decided that its Oregon Revised Statutes are subject to copyright. They even went so far as to file a Cease and Desist against Justia on April 7th. Justia, with the support of public.resource.org are fighting it, but it's pretty easy to see that this is far from over. The documents that have been sent back and forth can be viewed here.

Seriously, Oregon. We've all heard of copyright law, but copyrighting the law? You've got to be kidding.

Apparently, the State of Oregon sells official copies of its revised statutes for something like $390 a pop as a means of reclaiming he cost of compiling and publishing them every couple of years. They aren't foolish enough to claim that the law itself if copyrighted, but what they are claiming is that the extra materials present in the revised statutes is what is copyrighted. Now, I'm no lawyer, and it may be that I have a limited and overly-cynical view of things, but it seems to me that if Oregon succeeds in blocking the publication of its statutes for free through strong-arm enforcement of copyright law, it could be setting a dangerous precedent.

Think about it. You, the public, no longer have free public access to the law. You are not able to research, read about, or even really know any but the most obvious laws (e.g. those regarding murder, property crime, jaywalking, etc.). You break a law, but you don't know it. You weren't trying to, didn't mean to, but there are the police knocking on your door anyway.

Admittedly this is a very extreme example, but I think you can see where I'm going with this. Just the thought of blocking public access to the law defeats the purpose of open government, which is a very necessary thing. More and more we see the government trying to hide things, keep it a secret, while society itself becomes more open.



Seriously, we have things like blogs (yes, I know, this is a blog), MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, and a whole slew of other "Social Networking" sites where people post their innermost thoughts, feelings, desires, etc. Things that used to be written into a diary by flashlight under the blanket, then locked, stuffed into a pillowcase and hidden under the bed, are now out there for the world to see. It's a disturbing trend. If you're not on MySpace, you're nobody. (Oh, look, I'm not on MySpace...) We who refuse to turn the internet into our public diary are becoming the outcasts, and I expect soon we will be regarded with suspicion by many. "What's he hiding? He must be a bad person with some dirty secret, because he doesn't spill his guts to the masses!"

Not to say that everyone on these sites is this way, it just seems to be a trend I'm noticing is all. Also, I don't mean to pick almost exclusively on MySpace, it's just that they're still top dog on the scene, so it's a somewhat arbitrary selection.



Anyway, I found an old microphone headset for a cordless phone laying around, and after determining that it actually works (and surprisingly, doesn't sound half bad), I plan on kicking up a (possibly) weekly podcast sometime this summer, so stay tuned for that. Plus, more news, more tech, more gaming, and more of my unsolicited opinions yet to come, so stay tuned!