Comment by Y_Y
2 months ago
Maybe FOIA should trump licensing in this case. Suppose I write a manual on how to issue bad parking tickets and hide them in a database, and then license that (in since restrictive manner) to the state of Illinois. I think the public's right to see that document is more important than my right to prevent copying and dissemination.
That is true for all kinds of IP . The balance between the two is what IP laws do. Give inventors some protections to encourage innovations while keeping the public benefits in mind .
Copyright is time limited author’s death and 70 years for individuals and 95 years for corporations .
While there are arguments to be made for lesser duration , better preservation requirements etc the balancing of public good to private value is the basis of all copyright laws since statute of Anne 1709.
In a court case you can get access to all types of information as part of discovery, if you are harmed or believed to have been, there are other avenues available for you . If you have standing to sue and the discovery requests are made by a competent lawyer you can get access to internal communications to trade secrets to any other document supporting your claim . you or your lawyer can not use such information for economic benefit or disclose it, they are still protected .
Given that you have options legally to get this data , there is no public need that trumps private property rights because of real or potential harm that justifies blanket access by default
PS: note software is not just copyrighted , it is also covered by patents (20 years) and trade secrets (no expiry ). Also while the law provides protection it does not require disclosure on expiry .
If it were enough that government data were available via discovery then we wouldn't need FOIA laws in the first place.
Patents aren't relevant here since they are disclosed upon granting and cover the design rather than the implementation, for trade secrets the situation is more complicated ( https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/resources/news... ).