FOIA and Copyright

Another problem with crown copyright comes to light as British Columbia uses it to restrict distribution of FOIAed documents. Before you feel all superior (if you are an American), though the US doesn't have crown copyright (or federal copyright in the US in most situations), the federal government may be able to claim copyright abroad and states may also claim copyright. So this also could have happened here.

PS A good article on US government copyright is Becky Dale's column "Can The Government Copyright Public Records?"

Update: Only four days later comes news from Boing Boing that the State of Oregon is asserting copyright in the arrangement, compilation and notes of its revised statutes. Ug.

In Defense of Alpha Flight

My co-worker Mike slams the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight as not ready for a feature length movie. Perhaps I am biased (being both Canadian and American and a big fan of the original Alpha Flight comics) but I would welcome an Alpha Flight film. That comic had depth and great characters. I'd also remind Mike that Wolverine, a part-creation of the Canadian government and one-time member of Alpha Flight, has already been seen in three X-Men movies (and those movies would have been much worse without him).