From Slashdot:
- Professor Posts “Illegal Copy” of Guide To Oregon Public Record Laws Slashdot, September 16, 2009.
The Attorney General of Oregon is claiming copyright over a state-produced guide to using public-records laws and sells the 326-page book for $25. The AG’s offices says, “that’s how the AG’s office makes back the cost of producing the book” (A smackdown over Oregon public records, by Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian, September 14, 2009).
Bill Harbaugh, Professor of Economics at the University of Oregon, has posted scans of the guide on his website and is daring the AG to respond. He notes that the manual includes on its cover the famous James Madison quote, “A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy…” and he says that, “Given that this very quote is prominently posted on the cover of the same manual which AG John Kroger is trying to keep off the internet, I hold with those who favor farce.”
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