Validity

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The validity of this template has been confirmed multiple times, e.g. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/Template:PD-FLGov and http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Wikipedia:Templates_for_deletion/Log/2009_April_12#Template:FLGovernment and elsewhere! The Florida constitution states:

"(a) Every person has the right to inspect or copy any public record made or received in connection with the official business of any public body, officer, or employee of the state, or persons acting on their behalf, except with respect to records exemptedpursuant to this section or specifically made confidential by this Constitution. This section specifically includes the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government and each agency or department created thereunder; counties, municipalities, and districts; and each constitutional officer, board, and commission, or entity created pursuant to law or this Constitution." parts (c) and (d), define the records exempted.

BTW, this template has been deleted before: http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Special:Log/delete&page=Template:PD-FLGov .--Elvey (talk) 20:50, 10 May 2009 (UTC)Reply

Seeking consensus

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Seeking consensus for http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Template:PD-FLGov&diff=289389443&oldid=286415241. Please be WP:bold, and/or speak for or against. I don't think inserting a quotation from the Florida Constitution to clarify things is controversial, so I didn't seek consensus before making the edit. See this DRV Re. Phillipbrutus.jpg for more info ; many XFDs and DRVs based on this template have been ruled Keep.

Support, of course. I have attempted to rectify what may have been a problem with the template, namely employment of a definition of what public documents the sunshine clause of the constitution put in the public domain that may have ben narrower than the definition actually in the sunshine clause. --Elvey (talk) 21:22, 12 May 2009 (UTC)Reply

Update: The consensus is that this template is valid on Wikpedia Commons, but the admins here are ******** (censored); images using this tag should be uploaded to commons.--Elvey (talk) 20:23, 21 July 2009 (UTC)Reply

Trademark?

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Should this template also include trademark, as the court case that decided this cites an attorney general's decision that says not state government agency may have a trademark. かんぱい! Scapler (talk) 20:11, 6 September 2010 (UTC)Reply

The Florida Attorney General's decision can be found here, where they say that no government agency can own a trademark without specific legislative permission, because the state is not a legal "person" under state law. かんぱい! Scapler (talk) 20:19, 6 September 2010 (UTC)Reply
The short answer is that "No, this template should not include any information on trademarks.". The longer answer follows.
The summary comment is misleading. Copyrights, trademarks and Patents are allowed to be obtained. The AG's letter that Scalper links to actually says many things. For example one of the first things in the letter from the AG is that state statutes provide limited authority to specific state agencies to secure or hold trademarks. Further into the document there are more direct examples such as the right of a state agency to use a mark in connection with the sale within this state of goods or services, or both, may reserve the right to register a mark in this state in connection with particular types of goods or services. Further down in the letter there are even more specific examples such as section 24.105(11), Florida Statutes, authorizes the Department of the Lottery to "hold copyrights, trademarks, and service marks and enforce its rights with respect thereto"; section 267.072(1)(d)3.a.(III), Florida Statutes, provides that the Division of Historical Resources of the Department of State "may exercise the right of trademark over the terms 'Great Floridian' or 'Great Floridians'"; and section 267.061(3)(n)5., Florida Statutes, provides that the Division of Historical Resources "may exercise the right of trademark over the terms 'Florida Heritage' or 'Heritage Florida'".[6] Clearly, the Legislature considered it necessary to grant specific statutory authority to these state agencies to hold and enforce trademarks.[7] Also it use the example the the Florida Department of State may apply for, hold and enforce legal title to trademarks, patents, and copyrights on behalf of the State of Florida. In short - there is a general statement that a state agency is not authorized to secure or hold a trademark but in consideration, for example, of the misuse or deceptive use of state agency seals or logos or in connection with the sale within this state of goods or services, copyrights, trademarks and patents may be obtained.
If you wanted to make a blanket statement for this template that somehow suggest that all trademarked logos were also PD it would be false. If anything any items that falls under Chapter 119 and has some sort of logo (I.e - a letterhead, a map, the logo itself) that is possibly trademarked it should also carry the {{trademark}} tag. You can read a lot more by reading XXXIII - REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE, INVESTMENTS, AND SOLICITATIONS, chapter 495 - REGISTRATION AND PROTECTION OF TRADEMARKS, TITLE XLVIII - K-20 EDUCATION CODE, Chapter 1001 - K-20 GOVERNANCE, Title XXVI - PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, Chapter 334 - TRANSPORTATION ADMINISTRATION and other sections of the statutes. Soundvisions1 (talk) 23:55, 6 September 2010 (UTC)Reply
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The template was far more informative in evidencing the legal basis for and broad applicability of the template when it read thus:

This file is part of the "public record made or received in connection with the official business of any public body, officer, or employee of the state, or persons acting on their behalf, [which includes the work of] the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government and each agency or department created thereunder; counties, municipalities, and districts; and each constitutional officer, board, and commission, or entity created pursuant to [Florida] law or [its] Constitution" (Florida Constitution, § 24) such as "[a] document[], paper[], letter[], map[], book[], tape[], photograph[], film[], sound recording[], data processing [program], or other material, regardless of the physical form, characteristics, or means of transmission, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any ['state, county, district, authority, or municipal officer, department, division, board, bureau, commission, or other separate unit of government created or established by law' of the State of Florida]" (definition of public work at Fla. Stat. § 119.011(11)), and does not fall into any of the various categories of works for which the legislature has specifically permitted copyright to be claimed (see, e.g., "§ 24.105(10), Fla. Stat. (2003) [authorizing the Department of the Lottery to hold copyrights]; § 601.101, Fla. Stat. (2003) [permitting the Department of Citrus to hold legal title to copyrights]; § 1004.23, Fla. Stat. (2002) [authorizing universities to secure copyrights in certain works]" [summaries in original]). It is consequently in the public domain according to court interpretation of the Florida Constitution, Article I, § 24(a) and Florida Statutes, § 119.01. See Microdecisions, Inc. v. Abe Skinner (Findlaw): "Florida's Constitution and its statutes do not permit public records to be copyrighted unless the legislature specifically states they can be".

Restore?--Elvey (talk) 00:56, 5 March 2014 (UTC)Reply