Open Government Information and Data Re-Use Project

Open Government Information andData Re-use Project

Suggested All-of-government Approach to Licensing of Public Sector Copyright Works: Discussion Paper for Public Service and Non-Public Service Departments

25 March 2009

DISCUSSION PAPER – NOT GOVERNMENT POLICYDocument Control Sheet

Document InformationProject ID/Name:

Open Government Information and Data Re-use Project

Title:

Suggested All-of-government Approach to Licensing of Public Sector Copyright Works: Discussion Paper for PublicService and Non-Public Service Departments

DMS reference:

1092517 v6

Revision HistoryVersionDateAuthorDescription of changes

0.12 February 2009-Preparation of first draft for consideration by internalstakeholders0.223 February 2009-Preparation of second draft for consideration by internalstakeholders1.025 March 2009-Discussion Paper finalised1.119 August 2009-Minor amendments prior to public release

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence. In essence, you are free to copy,distribute and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to the State Services Commission and abide by the other licence terms. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz/.Please note that neither the State Services Commission emblem nor the New Zealand Government logo may be used in any way which infringes any provision of theFlags,Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981.Attribution to the State Services Commission should be in written form and not by reproduction of theState Services Commission emblem or New Zealand Government logo.

Table of contents

Document Control Sheet........................................................................................................2

Document Information..............................................................................................................2Revision History.......................................................................................................................2

Table of contents....................................................................................................................1Executive Summary................................................................................................................4

Introduction...............................................................................................................................4Context......................................................................................................................................4Rationale...................................................................................................................................5Preliminary view.......................................................................................................................5Suggested approach..................................................................................................................7Feedback...................................................................................................................................7Consultation timeline................................................................................................................8

Legal Context..........................................................................................................................9

The nature of copyright.............................................................................................................9Crown copyright as a species of copyright...............................................................................9Specific public sector works in which there is no copyright..................................................10Crown copyright and licensing...............................................................................................11

Policy Context.......................................................................................................................11

The Policy Framework for Government-held Information (PFGHI).....................................11 New Zealand Government Web Standards and Recommendations .......................................12

Factual Context.....................................................................................................................13Project Rationale...................................................................................................................15

Confusion, uncertainty and criticism of Crown copyright and licensing...............................15Limitations of Policy Framework for Government-Held Information and Web Standards...17Policy Framework for Government-Held Information.......................................................17Web Standards....................................................................................................................18Increasing agency interest in Creative Commons licences.....................................................18 Notable public sector information initiatives across the State Services.................................19International developments.....................................................................................................20European Union..................................................................................................................20United Kingdom.................................................................................................................21Organisation for Economic and Co-operation Development (“OECD”)...........................24Australia..............................................................................................................................25The current economic climate.................................................................................................31

Discussion Paper for Public Service and Non-Public Service Departments

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