For example, a state agency may post images online of the final appearance of a building under construction while the images may be 'public records', their creator (eg. Note: Works that are considered 'public records' but were not created by a state or municipal government agency may be copyrighted by their author the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution prevents state law from overriding the author's right to copyright protection that is granted by federal law. Copyright for materials submitted to state agencies may be held by the person or organization that created the document.' 'Those records created by Massachusetts government agencies and institutions held by the Massachusetts Archives are not copyrighted and are available for public use. This is consistent with the statement at : This formal statement only speaks to public records held by the Massachusetts Archives, so the use of this template for public records of the Commonwealth sourced from individuals or groups not affiliated therewith is not encouraged. This template is based on official statements by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, which are not definitive in the way a statute or a court ruling is. Where such works/allegations are concerned, may be appropriate. 'all books, papers, maps, photographs, recorded tapes, financial statements, statistical tabulations, or other documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau, division or authority of the commonwealth, or of any political subdivision thereof, or of any authority established by the general court to serve a public purpose, or any person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity which receives or expends public funds for the payment or administration of pensions for any current or former employees of the commonwealth or any political subdivision as defined in section 1 of chapter 32, unless such materials or data fall within the following exemptions found on page 40'Ĭoncerned wikipedia editors have noticed that the Commonwealth may make unfounded allegations that copyright protections exist for state regulations based on technical codes developed and copyrighted by private organizations. Public records are defined in A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law,Īt on page 40, under M.

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