Q & A: Making Use of Public Domain, New York Times, 11/19/08

Via New York Times: Q & A: Making Use of Public Domain:

"Q. What does it mean when a Web site says a picture or document is in the public domain? Does that mean I can use it for my own purposes?"...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/technology/personaltech/20askk-001.html?scp=2&sq=copyright&st=cse

Searchable "breaching copyright" video clips ruffle Parliament - Guardian, 9/25/08

Searchable video clips ruffle Parliament:
"While proceedings are open to free viewing, any re-use is subject to licensing by the Speaker of the House of Commons. This states that material "must not be hosted on a searchable website and must not be downloadable". The reason for the restriction, Helen Goodman, parliamentary secretary to the House of the Commons, told MPs earlier this year, "is to ensure that it is not re-edited or reused inappropriately for campaigning or satirical purposes.
Web activist charity MySociety is challenging this position in the latest phase of its campaign to open government up on the web. With the help of a small army of volunteers, it has created a searchable library of video clips of MPs speaking in the Commons, indexed by name and subject, on its website, theyworkforyou.com...
Another MySociety venture, the freedom of information clearing-house site whatdotheyknow.com, has had a head-on collision with Parliament over the issue of copyright. A request for information made through Whatdotheyknow has been refused because "the material could not be posted on the whatdotheyknow web pages without breaching copyright"...
"Parliament is supposed to be the home of the core of transparency and accountability, yet sometimes it seems to be the least responsive and least culturally open of the 100,000 bodies covered by Freedom of Information."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/25/freeourdata.digitalvideo