1931_Daniel_J_OConnor_Jr_Massachusetts_House_of_Representatives.png
Summary
Description 1931 Daniel J OConnor Jr Massachusetts House of Representatives.png |
English:
Portrait of member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
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Date | |
Source | https://archive.org/details/publicofficialso19311932bost |
Author | Unknown author Unknown author |
Licensing
Public domain Public domain false false |
This work is in the
public domain
in the United States because it was a
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
public record disseminated by a Commonwealth agency or the Massachusetts Archives.
Massachusetts' Secretary of the Commonwealth
has stated that such works can be copied and used
for any purpose
. This copyright does not extend to those records created, received, or under the custody of municipalities by M. G. L. c. 66, § 7, unless otherwise stated, nor does this apply to copy-written materials for commercial purposes received by employees of the Commonwealth.
Language describing permissions
A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, Published by William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Division of Public Records, (Updated January 2017) can be found at https://www.mass.gov/files/2017-06/Public%20Records%20Law.pdf and page 7 says:
Definition of "public record"
Public records are defined in A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, Published by William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Division of Public Records, (Updated January 2017) at https://www.mass.gov/files/2017-06/Public%20Records%20Law.pdf on page 40, under M. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26) as:
Limitations of template usage
This is consistent with the statement at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ARC/arcres/residx.htm :
Note:
Works that are considered "public records" but were not created by a state or municipal government agency may be copyrighted by their author; the
Supremacy Clause
of the
United States Constitution
prevents state law from overriding the author's right to copyright protection that is granted by federal law. For example, a state agency may post images online of the final appearance of a building under construction; while the images may be "public records", their creator (eg. architecture/construction firm) retains copyright rights to the image unless the contract with the agency says otherwise. See:
Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual: To what extent does federal law preempt state law regarding public inspection of records?
.
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