Source: http://copyright.lib.harvard.edu/states/arkansas/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 09:19:44+00:00

Document:
The Arkansas state code is in a public-access portal run by Lexis-Nexis, which does not allow direct linking. To access specific parts of the state code, go to the initial disclaimer page and search or navigate.
Arkansas enacted their Freedom of Information Act as Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-101 in 1967. Prior to 1967, a limited common law right of access was recognized. See, e.g. Collins v. State, 200 Ark. 1027, 143 S.W.2d 1 (1940). See generally, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in Arkansas; National Association of Counties, Open Records Laws: A State by State Report, 19-21 (2010).
While Arkansas courts have not mentioned copyright explicitly in relation to the Freedom of Information Act, one case provides this intriguing quote: "[T]he objectives of the FOIA are such that whenever the legislature fails to specify that any records in the public domain are to be excluded from inspection, or is less than clear in its intendments, then privacy must yield to openness and secrecy to the public's right to know the status of its own affairs." Ragland v. Yeargan, 288 Ark. 81, 84, 702 S.W.2d 23, 24 (1986). This is similar to the reasoning applied by Florida and California courts to conclude that all public documents are in the public domain unless otherwise specified by statute.
Additionally, a 1996 Arkansas Attorney General opinion, Ark. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 96-229 (Sept. 4, 1996), quoting a circuit court case, Dungan, et al. v. Johnson, et al., No. 95-9709 (Pulaski Co. Cir. Ct. 1st Div., April 11, 1996), stated that "neither copyright nor patent-right" applied to third-party created manuals in use with state authorities.
The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act provides that fee waivers are unavailable for records requested for commercial use. Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105(3)(A)(iv). Some records (for example, criminal background checks) are available only for specific proscribed purposes. Otherwise, according to the Arkansas Attorney General FOIA handbook, "[n]othing in the FOIA restricts the subsequent use of information obtained under the act."
Arkansas is one of a handful of states which limit public records requests to citizens of their own state. Under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act only a "citizen of the State of Arkansas," Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105, has the right to request records. Arkansas courts have interpreted this language to include Arkansas-based corporations. Arkansas Hwy. & Transp. Dep't v. Hope Brick Works Inc., 294 Ark. 490, 744 S.W.2d 711 (1988); Bryant v. Weiss, 335 Ark. 534, 983 S.W.2d 902 (1998).
The Arkansas code four times refers to specific records as "property of the state": Ark. Code Ann. § 22-6-119 ("Books, accounts, records, papers, maps, and documents relating to the functions and powers of the Commissioner of State Lands, including the records and documents used by the historical predecessors of the Commissioner of State Lands, are the property of the state"); Ark. Code Ann. § 17-14-305 ("Registration, license, and certificate documents, licenses, certificates, seals, and pocket cards shall remain the property of the state"); Ark. Code Ann. § 13-3-104 ("All records, papers, archives, and historical material at any time in the possession of the Arkansas History Commission, excepting such as it may have on loan, shall be and remain the property of the State of Arkansas"); Ark. Code Ann. § 13-3-204 ("All records, papers, archives, and historical material at any time in the possession of the Black History Commission of Arkansas, excepting such as it may have on loan, shall be and remain the property of the State of Arkansas.").
Arkansas Attorney General FOIA website, available at http://arkansasag.gov/media-center/foia/.
Arkansas State Library, available at http://www.library.arkansas.gov/Pages/default.aspx.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in Arkansas, available at http://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/ogg/AR.pdf.
Collins v. State, 200 Ark. 1027, 143 S.W.2d 1 (1940).
Ragland v. Yeargan, 288 Ark. 81, 84, 702 S.W.2d 23, 24 (1986), available at https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1745141/ragland-v-yeargan/.
Dungan, et al. v. Johnson, et al., No. 95-9709 (Pulaski Co. Cir. Ct. 1st Div., April 11, 1996).
Arkansas Hwy. & Transp. Dep't v. Hope Brick Works Inc., 294 Ark. 490, 744 S.W.2d 711 (1988), available at http://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/weblink8/0/doc/94517/Page3.aspx.
Bryant v. Weiss, 335 Ark. 534, 983 S.W.2d 902 (1998), available at http://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/weblink8/0/doc/193498/Page7.aspx.
Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-101.
Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105.
Ark. Code Ann. § 15-3-108.
Ark. Code Ann. § 23-115-205.
Ark. Code Ann. § 6-20-205.
Ark. Code Ann. § 22-6-119.
Ark. Code Ann. § 17-14-305.
Ark. Code Ann. § 13-3-104.
Ark. Code Ann. § 13-3-204.
Ark. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 96-229 (Sept. 4, 1996), available at http://ag.arkansas.gov/opinions/docs/96-229.html.
Arkansas Criminal History, background check agreement, available at https://www.ark.org/subscribe/bgcheck_agreement.php.
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and Arkansas Press Association, Arkansas Freedom of Information Act Handbook, available at https://static.ark.org/eeuploads/ag/foi-handbook-16ed-final.pdf.
National Association of Counties, Open Records Laws: A State by State Report, 19-21 (2010) available at http://www.naco.org/newsroom/pubs/Documents/County%20Management%20and%20Structure/Open%20Records%20Laws%20A%20State%20by%20State%20Report.pdf.

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