City of Austin Law Department City Hall, 301 West 2nd Street, PO. Box 1546 Austin, Texas 78767-1546 (512) 974-2268 Writer's Direct Line Writer?s Fax Line 512-974-2173 512-974-6490 September 17, 2015 Via Email: rogersel@gtlaw.com Elizabeth C. Rogers Greenberg Traurig, L.L.P. 300 West 6? Street, Ste. 2050 Austin, Texas 78701 Re: Public Information Request Related to the ATX Music Industry Census Dear Ms. Rogers, The City of Austin (hereinafter City) received a Public Information request from Cindy Royal on August 21, 2015. Said request is for the dataset compiled during the ATX Music Industry Census. It was further clari?ed to request the dataset without personal identifiers. A copy of the request and clari?cation are attached for your reference. Information is considered to be public information if it is written, produced, collected, assembled or maintained in connection with the transaction of official business by the City or for the City or the City spends public money for the purpose of writing, producing, collecting, assembling, or maintaining the information. That information is in connection with the transaction of official business if it is created by, transmitted to, received by, or maintained by a person or entity performing a governmental function on behalf of the City of Austin. Official business is a matter over which the City of Austin has any authority, administrative duties, or advisory duties. (Tex. Gov?t Code 552.002 552.003) A contact between the City and the Titan Music Group, L.L.C. was executed on August 27, 2014. Section 10.9 of that contact provides that ?the information generated by and resulting from this Agreement are subject to the Texas Public Information Act.? My office is providing this notice to you because it is our position that the dataset that is responsive to this request is or was solely in the possession of the Titan Music Group. Please provide that information to the City. If you believe that some or all of the responsive information in your possession may be exempted from disclosure due to confidentiality or its Page 1 of 2 Re: Public Information Request Related to the ATX Music Census September 17, 2015 Page 2 of 2 proprietary nature, your company has the legal right to make that assertion to the Office of the Attorney General. More detailed information regarding this process and the legal requirements can be found at the following link to the website of the Office of the Attorney General. nartv Additionally, the website also provides information about commonly raised exceptions. The information provided below for your convenience was copied from and can be found on the website. ?Section 552.110: Confidentiality of Trade Secrets and Commercial or Financial Information? Trade Secrets: In re Bass, 113 735 (Tex. 2003). Hyde Corp. v. Hu?ines, 314 763, 776 (Tex), cert. denied, 358 U.S. 898 (1958). Open Records Decision No. 552 (1990). Commercial or Financial Information: Bimbaum v. Alliance of Am. Insurers, 994 766 (Tex. 1999, pet. filed) (construing previous version of section 552.110), abrogated by In re Bass, 113 735 (Tex. 2003) Open Records Decision No. 639 (1996). Open Records Decision No. 661 (1999). Please feel free to contact me at 512-974-2173 or Elaine Nicholson at 512-974-6463 if you have any questions or need any additional information. inDerely, 1 1 is . in Assistant City Attorney City of Austin Law Department Link, Patricia Subject: FW: 817048 - Royal I wish to receive the data behind the Austin Music Census specifically the complete data from the survey of musicians, venue owners and music professionals used to generate the report. This data will be used in association with a student project We are telling stories about music in the community through data visualization. I have been in contact with Ted Lehr. I have sent emails to Ashley Buchanan, Angela Hanson and Don Pitts requesting access to this information, but have not received a reply. If you are unable to supply this data, along with the reason, I'd like any open records requests received by the city regarding the Austin Music Census report and a copy of the contract between the city and the Titan Music group to produce the report. Thank you. Link, Patricia From: Royal, Cindy Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2015 11:42 AM To: Sanchez, Mona Cc: Alvarado, Melissa; Buchanan, Ashley; Pitts, Don; Lehr, Ted Subject: RE: Request for Information (PIR #817067) This is not an acceptable response. I am sure there is a way to receive the data with identifying characteristics removed. The census report does not provide all ways in which this data can be approached. If the city paid for the survey and ensuing report, there should be a way to provide the data in an open format. Cindy From: Sanchez, Mona [mona.sanchez@austintexas.gov] Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2015 10:30 AM To: Royal, Cindy Cc: Alvarado, Melissa; Buchanan, Ashley; Pitts, Don; Lehr, Ted Subject: Request for Information (PIR #817067) Good morning Cindy, In response to your request for information we provide the following information. Nikki Rowling (Titan Music Group) and team completed data interpretation for the Austin Music Census. Due to privacy and security concerns pertaining to the raw data that was collected on citizens (financials and personal information), the Economic Development Department (EDD) specifically requested that the City of Austin not receive or own any of that data in any aspect. Below is a link to the survey. Please let me know if you have any questions or seek additional information. Mona