united-kingdom gdpr european-union foia
Do I need permission to publish a FOI response in a blog post or open letter?
<p>I recently submitted a FOI request to my local council, and had a response.</p>

<p>Part of the response stated the following: </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>You are free to use this information for your own use, including for non-commercial research
  purposes. It may also be used for the purposes of news reporting. Any other type of re-use, for
  example publishing the information, issuing copies to the public or marketing, will require our
  permission as copyright holder. If you intend to re-use this information in this manner you must apply
  to us.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I was hoping to use the information in the response as part of a petition to the local authorities to make a change. I was planning to do this by writing an open letter on my blog. Would I need to ask them for permission, or would it be covered under one of "own use", "non-commercial research" or "news reporting"?</p>

<p>They are claiming copyright protection so you cannot copy it unless fair dealing exemptions apply.</p>

<p>However, there is no copyright in facts - only in they way facts are presented. If you present them in a different way ...</p>
