Source: http://copyright.lib.harvard.edu/states/south_dakota/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 09:21:45+00:00

Document:
South Dakota law specifies that state agencies retain the copyright to their records, and that the copyright is retained by the agency when records are transferred to the state archives, until formally transferred. S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-14.3.
A common law right of access to public records goes back at least to 1928 in South Dakota. State v. Ewert, 52 S.D. 619, 219 N.W. 817 (1928). The South Dakota public records law was first enacted in 1939, and expressly excludes copyrighted material from its copying requirements. S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-1 (copies provided "unless federal copyright law otherwise provides").
The public records law does not generally restrict the use of public records, however, the use of certain information for commercial solicitation is prohibited. S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-1.11; 1980 S.D. Op. Att'y Gen. 183 (1980).
The South Dakota public records law limits access to "all citizens of this state, and all other persons interested in the examination of the public records." S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-1.
Several places in the South Dakota code refer to records as the "property of the state": S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-14.3 ("Any record transferred to the physical custody of the archivist remains the legal property of the agency of origin, subject to all existing copyrights and statutory provisions regulating the record's usage"); S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-10 ("All records of public officials of this state required to be kept or maintained by law are the property of the state"); S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-1.19 ("The records of any Governor and any lieutenant governor are the property of the state"); S.D. Const. art. XXVI, § 23 ("And the following records, books and archives shall also be the property of the state of South Dakota"). The law also restricts the transfer and destruction of public records. S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-10.
Open SD, South Dakota Government Information, available at http://open.sd.gov/.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in South Dakota, available at http://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/ogg/SD.pdf.
South Dakota State Historical Society, available at http://history.sd.gov/.
State v. Ewert, 52 S.D. 619, 219 N.W. 817 (1928).
S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-14.3, available at http://legis.sd.gov/Statutes/Codified_Laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=1-27-14.3.
S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-1, available at http://legis.sd.gov/Statutes/Codified_Laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=1-27-1.
S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-1.11, available at http://legis.sd.gov/Statutes/Codified_Laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=1-27-1.11.
S.D. Codified Laws § 2-16-8, available at http://legis.sd.gov/Statutes/Codified_Laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=2-16-8.
S.D. Codified Laws § 1-6-22, available at http://legis.sd.gov/Statutes/Codified_Laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=1-6-22.
S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-10, available at http://legis.sd.gov/Statutes/Codified_Laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=1-27-10.
S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-1.19, available at http://legis.sd.gov/Statutes/Codified_Laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=1-27-1.19.
S.D. Const. art. XXVI, § 23, available at http://legis.sd.gov/Statutes/Constitution/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=0N-26-23.
1980 S.D. Op. Att'y Gen. 183 (1980), available at http://atg.sd.gov/TheOffice/OfficialOpinions.aspx.

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