Which takes precedence – Copyright or the FOI Act?
The Copyright Designs and Patents Act (s50) states that information should be released if required by any other Act of Parliament. So, provided no exemptions apply, information should be released. However information may be exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act if its disclosure would constitute ‘an actionable breach of confidence’. Consultation therefore (with the copyright owner) may be required before disclosure takes place. It is also good practice to advise an applicant that making additional copies of information that has been disclosed, or selling such copies to another party may be a breach of copyright.
