May 26, 2010

Ms. Susan K. Bohn

General Counsel

Lake Travis Independent School District

3322 Ranch Road 620 South

Austin, Texas 78738

OR2010-07668

Dear Ms. Bohn:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 386190.

The Lake Travis Independent School District (the "district") received a request for information pertaining to the Austin LifeGuard Program. You state you are providing some of the requested information to the requestor. You do not seek to withhold the information in accordance with one of the exceptions to disclosure in the Act, but you assert that the district is unable to provide the requestor with a copy of the information at issue because it is protected by copyright law. We have considered your claim and reviewed the submitted information.

A custodian of public records must comply with the copyright law and is not required to furnish copies of records that are copyrighted. Attorney General Opinion JM-672 (1987). A governmental body must allow inspection of copyrighted materials unless an exception applies to the information. Id. If a member of the public wishes to make copies of copyrighted materials, the person must do so unassisted by the governmental body. See Open Records Decision No. 660 at 5 (1999) (Federal Copyright Act does not make information confidential, but rather gives copyright holder exclusive right to reproduce his work, subject to another person's right to make fair use of it.). In making copies, the member of the public assumes the duty of compliance with the copyright law and the risk of a copyright infringement suit. See Open Records Decision No. 550 (1990). Accordingly, the district must provide the information at issue to the requestor in accordance with copyright law. See ORD 660 at 5.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free, at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Amy L.S. Shipp

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

ALS/rl

Ref: ID# 386190

Enc. Submitted documents

cc: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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