Legal Question in Technology Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Public Documents

Your question is not very specific. However, before publishing any material on the Internet, you should retain an attorney to advise you.

Even information which you have obtained lawfully may incur liability if you publish or republish it. For example, publishing a police report could subject you to liability for defamation or applicable statutes. Normally police reports can only be obtained for a specified or official purpose. The contents of the police report may or may not be true, and if published outside of the context of the police investigation or a prosecution, may subject you to legal liability. Police officers and other law enforcement officials, as well as other types of public officials, usually have "qualified immunity", that is, they are allowed to create police reports within their departments within the scope of their investigation, as long as they are acting in good faith. In that event, they will generally not be legally liable even if the material proves to be defamatory or erroneous. You, however, would not be protected because your activities are not in furtherance of a similar activity. Beware.