2. notices or other documents delivered to or drawn up by
a public authority solely for the purpose of publication
in a periodical published under the auspices of the
authority;
3. printed matter, recordings of sound or pictures, or other
documents forming part of a library or deposited by a
private person in a public archive solely for the purpose
of care and safekeeping, or for research and study
purposes, and private letters, written matter or
recordings otherwise transferred to a public authority
solely for the purposes referred to above; and
4. recordings of the contents of documents under point 3,
if such recordings are held by a public authority, where
the original document would not be deemed to be an
official document.
The provisions of paragraph one, point 3, concerning
documents forming part of a library do not apply to recordings
held in databases to which a public authority has access under
an agreement with another public authority, if the recording is
an official document held by that authority.
Art. 12. An official document to which the public has access
shall be made available on request forthwith, or as soon as
possible, at the place where it is held, and free of charge, to any
person wishing to examine it, in such form that it can be read,
listened to, or otherwise comprehended. A document may also
be copied, reproduced, or used for sound transmission. If a
document cannot be made available without disclosure of such
part of it as constitutes classified material, the rest of the
document shall be made available to the applicant in the form
of a transcript or copy.
A public authority is under no obligation to make a document
available at the place where it is held, if this presents serious
difficulty. Nor is there any such obligation in respect of a
recording under Article 3, paragraph one, if the applicant can
have access to the recording at a public authority in the vicinity,
without serious inconvenience.
Art. 13. A person who wishes to examine an official document
is also entitled to obtain a transcript or copy of the document,
or such part thereof as may be released, in return for a fixed
fee. A public authority is however under no obligation to
release material recorded for automatic data processing in any
form other than a printout except insofar as follows from an act
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