Source: http://copyright.lib.harvard.edu/states/west_virginia/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 09:22:56+00:00

Document:
A limited common law right of access to public records has been recognized in West Virginia since at least 1904. See Payne v. Staunton, 55 W. Va. 202, 46 S.E. 927, 929 (1904). The West Virginia Freedom of Information Act, enacted in 1977, may be found at W. Va. Code Ann. § 29B-1-1.
The Freedom of Information Act does not restrict the use of requested records; see Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in West Virginia, at 4.
Use restricted by administrative rule "Materials on the Archives and History website" and "articles from West Virginia Archives and History News" W. Va. Code R. § 82-6-5 (5.4.a. "Materials on the Archives and History website are for research, teaching, and private study purposes only." 5.4.d. "Permission to reprint articles from West Virginia Archives and History News is granted, provided: (1) The reprint is not used for commercial purposes").
West Virginia Attorney General's Office FOIA Handbook, available at http://www.ago.wv.gov/Documents/FOIA%20Handbook%20PDF.pdf.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in West Virginia, available at http://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/ogg/WV.pdf.
West Virginia Archives and History, available at http://www.wvculture.org/history/archivesindex.aspx.
West Virginia Library Commission, available at http://www.librarycommission.wv.gov/Pages/default.aspx.
W. Va. Code Ann. § 29B-1-1, available at http://www.legis.state.wv.us/wvcode/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=29b&art=1&section=1#01.
W. Va. Code Ann. § 24E-1-7, available at http://www.legis.state.wv.us/wvcode/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=24e&art=1&section=7#01.
W. Va. Code Ann. § 29-22B-202, available at http://www.legis.state.wv.us/wvcode/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=29&art=22B&section=202#22B%2322B.
W. Va. Code Ann. § 29-22A-2, available at http://www.legis.state.wv.us/wvcode/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=29&art=22A&section=2#22A%2322A.
W. Va. Code R. § 82-6-5, available at http://www.wvculture.org/history/rules/rules.html.
West Virginia Conservation, 1946, available at http://www.wvdnr.gov/wwvmagazine/archive/Batch1946/1946%20-%2006%20June.pdf.
 Most recent litigation touching on the copyright status of state documents has concerned GIS data (see, e.g., the cases in Florida (Microdecisions, Inc. v. Skinner, 889 So. 2d 871 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2004)), California (County of Santa Clara v. Superior Court, 89 Cal. Rptr. 374 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009)), New York (City of New York v. Geodata Plus, LLC, 537 F. Supp. 2d 443 (E.D.N.Y. 2007)), and South Carolina (Seago v. Horry County, 663 S.E.2d 38 (S.C. 2008))). For a general discussion of the copyright status of government GIS data, see Edward A. Pisacreta & Jonathan P. Mollod, Licensing and Commercialization Issues for Geographic Data, 45 Les Nouvelles 1, 5 (2010).

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