The use and reuse of government information from an EU perspective

The problems that occur in the commercial use and reuse of government information are the subject matter of a proposed EU directive. The paper describes the economic value of government information and documents, and its potential and actual commercial use. The paper then analyses the conceptually different approaches in Europe and the United States towards a legal framework for the commercial use of public sector documents and government information. The commercialization by governments of their own information and the arguable difficulties it creates for fair competition with the private sector are indicated, with some policy and ethical considerations as conclusions.