Copyright is grossly and widely abused. I just saw an example of copyright abuse, i.e. copyfraud, at ABC Action News.com.

ABC takes the public information listed below and then claims copyright to it. A claim which does not exist. Falsely claiming copyright is technically a crime under the Copyright Act, but I’m not sure if a case has ever been prosecuted. Here’s the information ABC (aka The E.W. Scripps Co.) falsely copyrighted -

They (or rather employee Dustin Chase) rewrote the intro and then cut and paste the following (see this post for the entire press release).

Thursday, August 21st

9:00 am - 3:00 pm: Highwoods Properties, Inc. LakePoint Two Building (3111 West Martin Luther King Blvd., Tampa, FL) Outreach event hosted by Highwoods Properties, Inc. and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

11:30 am - 1:00 pm: Grace Lutheran Luncheon (Red Lobster - 11601 North Dale Mabry, Tampa, FL)

Friday, August 22nd

12:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Mr. Empanadas Café (7541 West Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa, FL)
Saturday, August 23rd

11:00 am - 4:00 pm: National Supermarket & Café (8401 North Armenia Avenue, Tampa, FL)

Sunday, August 24th

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Mount Olive A.M.E. Church (1747 West La Salle Street, Tampa, FL)

So, say I’m a blogger (ahem) who wants to reproduce the above information. Dare I? I’ve heard a lot about RIAA lawsuits, and I remember reading something recently about the AP not allowing more than 5 word quotations before they start charging. Well, this is just a hobby for me, I’d better not chance it.

Wrong.

E. W. Scripps is breaking the law by claiming copyright to something that, if anything, might be copyrighted by Buddy Johnson or by Hillsborough County, but is most likely public domain information. And it should be public domain information, not the possession of a media behemoth.

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