File:FrancisEppesHall.jpg

Florida's Constitution and its statutes do not permit any agency to claim copyright for "public records" unless authorized to do so by law. The following agencies are permitted to claim copyright (as well as trademarks) and any works of these agencies should be assumed to be copyrighted without clear evidence to the contrary:

• Florida Department of Transportation – §334.049(1)(a), Florida Statutes (2014)
• Florida Department of State – §286.031, Florida Statutes (2014)
• Florida Lottery – §24.105(10), Florida Statutes (2014)
• Space Florida – §331.305(4), Florida Statutes (2014)
• Water management districts – §373.608(1), Florida Statutes (2014)
  
• Florida Department of Citrus – §601.101, Florida Statutes (2014)
• Florida state universities and state colleges – §1004.23(1) and §1004.726(1), Florida Statutes (2014)
  

Works by defunct state agencies may be copyrighted if these rights were transferred to a new or different agency (note that legislation transferring such right may not have been codified into Florida Statutes). For example, copyright in works by the Florida Space Authority may have been transferred to Space Florida. State and municipal government agencies may claim copyright for software created by the agency (§ 119.084, Florida Statutes 2014).

In case law, Microdecisions, Inc. v. Skinner—889 So. 2d 871 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (Findlaw)—held that the Collier County Property Appraiser could not require commercial users to enter into a licensing agreement, holding that "[the agency] has no authority to assert copyright protection in the GIS maps, which are public records."

Works which are considered "public records" but were not created by a state or municipal government agency may be copyrighted by their author; the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution prevents state law from overriding the author's right to copyright protection that is granted by federal law. For example, a state agency may post images online of the final appearance of a building under construction; while the images may be "public records", their creator (eg. architecture/construction firm) retains copyright rights to the image unless the contract with the agency says otherwise. See: Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual: To what extent does federal law preempt state law regarding public inspection of records?.