GIS Law in 'fornia

"Given the rule in California that a statute limiting public access to information should be construed narrowly, while a statute granting public access should be construed broadly, the Court held that the GIS files contained in the Landbase were not a “computer mapping system” or “software” and thus subject to disclosure. For all of those reasons, the Court reversed the decisions of the courts below, and found in favor of the Sierra Club."

a good decision... (they said the Data is Public Property)

This case was actually won July 8th, 2013. It also allowed the County to charge a 'nominal' fee for the data. But I believe that fee has now been waived.