Nat'l Council of Teachers Quality, Inc. v. Curators of the Univ. of Mo.

• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: LISA WHITE HARDWICK, Judge.
• Citation: Nat'l Council of Teachers Quality, Inc. v. Curators of the Univ. of Mo., 446 S.W.3d 723 (Mo. App. 2014)
• Decision Date: 26 August 2014
• Docket Number: No. WD 76785.,WD 76785.
• Parties: NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS QUALITY, INC., Appellant, v. CURATORS OF the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, Respondent.

446 S.W.3d 723

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS QUALITY, INC., Appellant

v.CURATORS OF the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, Respondent.

No. WD 76785.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

Aug. 26, 2014.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to Supreme Court Denied Sept. 30, 2014.

Application for Transfer Denied Nov. 25, 2014.

John Campbell, Erich Vieth, Alicia Campbell, St. Louis, MO, for Appellant.

Paul Maguffee, Columbia, MO, for Respondent.

Before Division Four: JAMES E. WELSH, Chief Judge, Presiding, LISA WHITE HARDWICK, Judge and KEVIN HARRELL, Special Judge.

Opinion

LISA WHITE HARDWICK, Judge.

The National Council for Teacher Quality (the “NCTQ”) brought this action against the Curators of the University of Missouri (the “University”) to compel the University to disclose course syllabi under Missouri's Sunshine Law. The circuit court found for the University, determining that the requested syllabi were exempted from disclosure under the Sunshine Law by the Federal Copyright Act, and this appeal followed. For reasons explained herein, the judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.

Factual and Procedural History

The NCTQ is a private non-profit “policy and research organization that's working towards making sure that every child has an effective teacher.” On June 29, 2012, the NCTQ submitted a request to the University, pursuant to the Sunshine Law, § 610.010 et seq.,¹ asking the University to produce various records, including “syllabi that students actually receive from their professors.” In response, the University disclosed some of the requested documents but withheld the requested syllabi on the basis that the syllabi were exempt from disclosure under the Sunshine Law.

On October 1, 2012, the NCTQ filed a two-count Petition against the University. Count I asked the court to compel production of the course syllabi. Count II asked the court to impose civil penalties and attorneys' fees upon the University for knowingly and purposefully violating its obligations to provide access to public records, pursuant to Section 610.027.

On June 21, 2013, the circuit court held a hearing at which both parties presented evidence. On July 17, 2013, the court entered its Order and Judgment, finding for the University and, thus, denying the NCTQ access to the requested syllabi. The NCTQ appeals.

Additional facts will be provided as necessary during our analysis of the NCTQ's points on appeal.

Standard of Review

On review of this court tried case, we must affirm the circuit court's judgment unless it is not supported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976). We view the evidence and inferences in a light most favorable to the judgment and disregard all contrary evidence. Id. We must defer to the circuit court's determinations of fact and witness credibility. Id.

Analysis

“Missouri's Sunshine Law, Chapter 610, reflects the state's commitment to openness in government.” News–Press and Gazette Co. v. Cathcart, 974 S.W.2d 576, 578 (Mo.App.1998). “The Sunshine Law is to be liberally construed and exceptions strictly construed to promote open government.” Id. Under the Sunshine Law, records of public governmental bodies shall be open to the public unless otherwise provided by law. §§ 610.011, 610.023.2. “A public record is defined generally in the Sunshine Law as including any record retained by any public governmental body.” City of Springfield v. Events Publ'g Co., 951 S.W.2d 366, 371 (Mo.App.1997) (citing § 610.010(6) ). Section 610.021 provides exceptions to open records, listing instances where a public governmental body is authorized to “close” its records to the public. Such exceptions, however, must be strictly construed. § 610.011. “ ‘[P]ublic records must be presumed open to public inspection unless they contain information which clearly fits within one of the exemptions set out in § 610.021.’ ” City of Springfield, 951 S.W.2d at 371 (quoting State ex rel. Mo. Local Gov't Ret. Sys. v. Bill, 935 S.W.2d 659, 664 (Mo.App.1996) ).

Under Section 610.027.2, once a party seeking judicial enforcement of the Sunshine Law demonstrates that the body in question is subject to the Sunshine Law and has denied access to a record, the burden shifts to the governmental body to demonstrate that the record falls within one of the exceptions to the rule of disclosure. In the instant case, the University is a “public governmental body” subject to the Sunshine Law. § 610.010(4)(a). Moreover, the University admitted that it withheld the requested syllabi from disclosure. Thus, the burden was on the University to demonstrate compliance with the Sunshine Law.

At trial, the University argued that the subject syllabi fell within Section 610.021(14), which authorizes a public governmental body to close “[r]ecords which are protected from disclosure by law.” Specifically, the University's position was that its faculty members hold copyright ownership in their syllabi and, thus, that the syllabi's disclosure was protected by the Federal Copyright Act. 17 U.S.C. § 106(1), (3) (2012) (The Federal Copyright Act provides copyright owners the “exclusive rights to do and to authorize” reproduction and distribution of their copyrighted works.). Upon review of the evidence presented, the circuit court entered judgment, finding that the University “met its burden of persuasion to demonstrate compliance with” the Sunshine Law.

Points I & IV—The Federal Copyright Act's Applicability to Section 610.021(14)

In its first point, the NCTQ contends that the circuit court erred in entering judgment in favor of the University because the NCTQ “pleaded and proved that it was legally entitled to copies of [the University's classroom course syllabi].”²

The NCTQ does not dispute that the faculty authors who wrote the requested syllabi own the copyright to those works.³ Rather, the NCTQ asserts that a “document is [not] ‘protected from disclosure by law’ by the mere fact that it is copyrighted.”

First, the NCTQ relies heavily on the fact that “no Missouri case has ever suggested” that the Federal Copyright Act exempts copyrighted work from Sunshine disclosure. The absence of case law, however, is the result of this issue never having been before the appellate courts of this state. The fact that our courts have not addressed the interplay between the Federal Copyright Act and the Sunshine Law does not mean that the Copyright Act has no applicability to the instant case; rather, it simply means that this is a case of first impression.

Second, at oral argument, the NCTQ cited a handful of cases from other jurisdictions for the proposition that the Federal Copyright Act “has never” been used as a “shield” to deny requested documents in “any open records case.” We find the NCTQ's reliance on such authorities unpersuasive. The courts of this state are not bound by decisions of foreign jurisdictions. Moreover, none of the cases cited by the NCTQ hold that the Federal Copyright Act has no applicability in open records cases. Rather, the cases cited by the NCTQ actually recognize that the Federal Copyright Act can affect disclosure of copyrighted materials in an open records request. Nat'l Council on Teacher Quality v. Minn. St. Colleges and Universities, 837 N.W.2d 314, 318 (Minn.App.2013) (“[Minnesota's open records law] states that ‘comprehensive accessibility shall be allowed to researchers ... except as otherwise expressly provided by law.’ The copyright act is such a law[.]” (citation omitted) (quoting Minn.Stat. § 13.03.2(b))); Zellner v. Cedarburg Sch. Dist., 300 Wis.2d 290, 731 N.W.2d 240, 242 n. 3 & 244 (2007) (Recognizing Wisconsin's express statutory exception to its open records law for “materials to which access is limited by copyright” (quoting Wis. Stat. § 19.32(2) )); State ex rel. Rea v. Ohio Dept. of Educ., 81 Ohio St.3d 527, 692 N.E.2d 596, 601–02 (1998) (discussing the limited situations in which the Federal Copyright Act would not prevent disclosure under the open records law); Lindberg v. Cnty. of Kitsap, 133 Wash.2d 729, 948 P.2d 805, 812–13 (same).⁴

Third, the NCTQ inaccurately characterizes the University's copyright argument as one that is premised upon confidentiality concerns. Thereupon, the NCTQ asserts: “Based on the widespread uses of syllabi in the educational community ... [the University's argument] is absurd.” The University's position, however, is unquestionably rooted in copyright protection, which in no way pertains to confidentiality, but rather protects against unauthorized copying and distribution.

Fourth, and finally, the NCTQ puts great emphasis on the Sunshine Law's policy in favor of openness in government and its instruction to strictly construe its exemptions. See § 610.011. Under its policy argument, the NCTQ asserts: “Because federal copyright law does not address disclosures pursuant to Sunshine Law requests, there is no need to conduct any federal copyright analysis regarding this case.” Thus, the NCTQ suggests that, because the Federal Copyright Act does not expressly address the disclosure of copyrighted material under an open records law, it does not have any applicability to Section 610.021(14). Stated differently, the NCTQ contends that the “protected from disclosure by law” language of Section 610.021(14) should be strictly construed to require the subject “law” to expressly prohibit disclosure under open records laws. This construction of Section 610.021(14) would be unreasonably strict and narrow, given the plain language of the statute. See, e.g., Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Mo. Dep't of Ins., 169 S.W.3d 905, 909–13 (Mo.App.2005) (holding requested data to be a trade secret under the Missouri Uniform Trade Secret Act and, thus, exempt from disclosure under the Sunshine Law, where the Trade Secret Act makes no mention of open records laws).

While the specific arguments the NCTQ raises under its first point are undoubtedly...