On Tue, 4 Apr 1995 BLSJDRP@delphi.com wrote:
> I must say that I disagree with Jamie Love's assessment
> that the Air Force created the FLITE database. True,
> they converted it into electronic format (which was
> obviously an expensive and labor-intensive process),
> but West "created " the database in that they're the
> ones who gathered the cases together, gave them headnotes,
> etc.
FLITE, like JURIS, contains items other than those which are
published in the West reporters. I've seen the record layout from JURIS,
and the headnotes are in a separate data field from the text of
opinions. I assume that FLITE was set up the same way, since JURIS used
the Air Force to supply the data for several years. Now, assuming that
West "owns" its own editorial product, but not the text of the opinions,
I would say that the Air Force "created" a database of court opinions, at
taxpayer expense. There is no evidence that the Air Force had any
contract with West prior to September 1974, although if West produces one
I would be happy to look at it. (We have FOIAed such materials from the
Air Force already, and found nothing earlier).
To put things in a more contemporary light, suppose that I typed in the
text of 40 years of Circuit Court opinions, using the West reporters as
the source, indeed the only source, for the published opinions, with
corrections. Now, who "owns" this database that I have typed into a
computer? West, because it published the data first, or me, because the
documents are in the public domain? This isn't a matter of opinion, in
the final analysis, it will be a matter of law, eventually decided by
the U.S. Supreme Court.
jamie
----------------------------------------------------------------------
James Love, TAP; internet: love@tap.org
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036; v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176
12 Church Road, Ardmore, PA 19003; v. 610/658-0880; f. 610/649-4066
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