Sat, 09 Feb 2008

WV Assessor Sues to Keep Tax Maps Off the Internet

Another case of copyrights run amok - if you have to pay to know the law or the tax boundaries, then that law favors the well off by default. Which kinda puts the whole "equal before the law" to the lie, eh?

After trying to charge $167,488 for their collection of county tax maps (in TIF format), West Virginia was forced by a judge to hand them over for a $20 'reproduction costs' fee. Now a county tax assessor has filed a lawsuit trying to block the tax maps from being put online, claiming copyright infringement and financial damages since fewer people are coming to her to buy paper copies at $8 per page.

(link) [Slashdot]

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