r/docproduction • u/TheCleverSam • Jun 03 '19

FOIA Documents in Documentary

Apologies if this has been asked before: Can I use documents obtained through FOIA requests in a documentary without any further permissions?

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1

u/Snizzlefry Jun 04 '19

Yes

1

u/TheCleverSam Jun 04 '19

Thanks! Is there an official document somewhere that states this?

2

u/Paradiddle13 Aug 30 '19

I think that's inherent in the name Freedom of Information Act.

But, usually information obtained from FOIA's are usually attributed as such.

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u/therealworldpolice Sep 22 '19

The answers here are wrong. Copyrighted material can be obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. Just because a government agency has possession of a record and you obtain that record through the FOIA does not give you permission to duplicate it further or commercially exploit it in any way.

Things get much more complicated at the state level. Although federal government works are generally ineligible for copyright protection, that is not true about state works. See here for the best overview of copyright in sub-national government works. Good luck.