New Zealand: Open Access and Licensing for State Services agencies

In July the New Zealand Cabinet approved the Government Open Access and Licensing framework (NZGOAL), providing guidance for State Services agencies to follow when releasing copyright works and non-copyright material for re-use by third parties. It standardises the licensing of government copyright works for re-use using Creative Commons licences (specifically the Attribution [BY] license) and recommends the use of ‘no-known rights’ statements for non-copyright material. It is widely recognised that re-use of this material by individuals and organisations may have significant creative and economic benefit for New Zealand. [12aug10]

State Services agencies should make their copyright works which are or may be of interest or use to people available online for re-use on the most open of licensing terms within NZGOAL – the Creative Commons Attribution (BY) licence – unless a restriction applies. Likewise they should provide public online access to non-copyright material that is or may be of interest to people, using a ‘no-known rights’ statement.

More details: http://www.e.govt.nz/policy/nzgoal.