Onsrud, H.J., "Access to Geographic Information in the United States", Free accessibility of geo-information in the Netherlands, the United States, and the European Community, Proceedings, Delft, Netherlands, Oct 2, 1998, pp. 33-41 (Earlier version presented as GIS Legal Issue Challenges, International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), Brighton England, July 22, 1998)

Harlan J. Onsrud

Department of Spatial Information Science and Engineering

National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis

University of Maine

Orono, ME USA

Several areas of law define or influence access to geographic information in the United States. Among these include intellectual property (e.g. copyright), freedom of information, privacy, electronic contracting and antitrust laws. In general, the form of these laws in the U.S. allows greater access to government information at the local, state, and national government levels and use of that information than is generally allowed in other nations. As a further generalization, U.S. law grants individuals greater leeway to use the work products of others without permission than is often granted by the laws of other nations. This article briefly summarizes the status of freedom of information, copyright, and privacy laws as they relate to access to geographic work products and data sets in the U.S. and sets forth some of the policy arguments upon which U.S. approaches to access have been predicated. The paper suggests that the general principle of open and unrestricted access to government information and a liberal policy concerning copyright law have been wise policy choices for the United States. The current open access approaches have been beneficial both in terms of supporting fundamental democratic values and in terms of supporting long term economic advancement for the nation.

Full Article