On Tue, 1 Nov 1994, Cindy Chick wrote:
> I don't think this will ever top crime as the major concern of the
> average American. There is, however, no doubt that there are publishers
> that would like the government to collect this information for them and
> present it to them in a marketable format.
The other publishers just want an opportunity to publish court
opinions with a legal cite without having to pay a royalty to West.
And, of course, as far as we know, the only firms that have licenses to
use the West cite are Mead, for LEXIS, but not for Michie, because of a
settlement of an antitrust suit, Matthew Bender, because of a settlement
of a lawsuit in NY, and apparently a firm that sells legal information in
the Virgin Islands. (Please, if there are more, let us know). This
isn't a question of handouts, it's a matter getting the right to
redisseminate a usable version of government information without
the permission of a private party (West). If West would abandon all
claims that it "owns" the official text of judicial opinions and that it
"owns" the official (and required citations) then this debate would end,
immediately, and life would go on, with competition. LEXIS can live with
that, why can't West?
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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