By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
You can look at all the City of Decatur records you would like, even have copies made, but you can no longer use those records for commercial purposes.
As many other communities have done, city council recently approved an ordinance that prohibits the commercial use of public records stored in the city’s electronic data storage system.
State law allows the restrictions to be employed by municipalities.
According to state law, commercial purposes includes selling, advertising, or soliciting the purchase of merchandise, goods, or services, or selling/loaning the information to others for these purposes.
Officials stressed that it in no way restricts the use of the records for “the preparation or publication of news, for nonprofit activities, or for academic research.”
The ordinance states that anyone who violates the city law may be prohibited from obtaining a copy of any further data.
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