Source: http://copyright.lib.harvard.edu/states/tennessee/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 09:18:33+00:00

Document:
The Tennessee 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.
A 2007 Tennessee attorney general opinion indicates that the "State of Tennessee is the copyright owner of photographs taken by the State of Tennessee's Photographic Services." Tenn. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 07-130 (Aug. 27, 2007). A 2009 opinion from the Tennessee Office of Open Records Counsel indicates that "federal copyright law creates an exception to the TPRA [Tennessee Public Records Act] and thus the [records] will not be available for inspection and/or copying." The Office of Open Records Counsel is authorized to provide "informal advisory opinions" regarding public records in Tennessee. Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-4-601.
The Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA) was first enacted in 1957 and can be found at Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503. A limited common law right of access to public records has been recognized in Tennessee since at least 1903. State v. Williams, 110 Tenn. 549, 75 S.W. 948 (1903).
The Tennessee Public Records Act does not restrict subsequent use of records, or require a requestor to disclose their intended use. See The Capital Case Resource Center of Tennessee Inc. v. Woodall, 17 TAM 8-8, p.14 (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan,. 29, 1992); Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in Tennessee; Josh Jones, Open Records: A Guide for Municipal Officials, 2007. Requests for map data for commercial use, however, are eligible for additional fees.  Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-506(c)(1).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-307 states that "[t]itle to any record transferred to the state archives is vested in the state library and archives."
The TPRA restricts public records requests to Tennessee citizens. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503. After a similar citizens-only restriction was overturned in Delaware, see Lee v. Miner, 33 Med. L. Rptr. 1839 (D. Del. May 31, 2005), Tennessee established a committee which proposed eliminating the citizen-only requirement in the TPRA, but the proposal was not adopted by the General Assembly, and the TPRA remains restricted to Tennessee citizens. After the Delaware decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a citizens-only public records law in Virginia. McBurney v. Young, 133 S. Ct. 1709, 185 L. Ed. 2d 758 (U.S. 2013).
The Tennessee code refers to "[a]ll artifacts, photographs and records" from state archeological digs as "property of the state," Tenn. Code Ann. § 11-6-105, and a Tennessee court has held that transcripts filed with a Tennessee court become "property of the state." State v. Watts, 670 S.W.2d 246 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1984).
Tennessee Office of Open Records Counsel, available at http://www.comptroller.tn.gov/openrecords/index.asp.
Tennessee State Library and Archives, available at http://www.tn.gov/tsla/index.htm.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in Tennessee, available at http://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/ogg/TN.pdf.
State v. Watts, 670 S.W.2d 246 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1984), available at https://casetext.com/case/state-v-watts-86.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-506.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-4-601.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-6-204.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-51-105.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-89-109.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-5507.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-307.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 11-6-105.
Tenn. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 07-130 (Aug. 27, 2007), available at http://attorneygeneral.tn.gov/op/2007/op/op130.pdf.
Office of Open Records Counsel, Opinion response to Ronald E. Mills, 2009, available at http://www.comptroller.tn.gov/openrecords/pdf/CityofKnoxville.pdf.
Josh Jones, Open Records: A Guide for Municipal Officials, 2007, available at http://www.mtas.tennessee.edu/Knowledgebase.nsf/0/0DCEF11AC2AC2E7F85257AC300622909/$FILE/Open%20Records.pdf.

References: § 8
 § 10
 v. 
 v. 
 § 10
 § 10
 § 10
 v. 
 v. 
 § 11
 v. 
 v. 
 § 10
 § 10
 § 8
 § 8
 § 4
 § 7
 § 4
 § 10
 § 11