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Councilmember questions poet laureate nomination process, copyright amid Aug. 22 deadline
Summary
A Schenectady councilmember asked for clarity on who appoints the poet laureate nominating panel and who would hold copyright over poems produced during the term ahead of the Aug. 22 application deadline.
Schenectady — A councilmember asked the Schenectady City Council on Aug. 11 to clarify who appoints members of the poet laureate nominating panel and who would hold copyright for poems produced by the city’s poet laureate.
Councilmember Turturro asked for specific information about Resolution 2025-87, which establishes the poet laureate process, including who on the named organizations has authority to appoint panel members and whether the mayor, the school district superintendent, or other officials would make appointments. Turturro also asked, “Who has copyright privileges, to that piece of poetry that they write? Does it belong to the city or does it belong to the actual poet?”
Why it matters: The city’s poet laureate program involves institutions including Union College, SUNY Schenectady, the Schenectady School District and the library. Clarifying appointment authority affects how the nominating panel is formed; copyright ownership affects whether the city or the poet controls future use of poems that may be publicly associated with the city.
Councilmember Williams responded that discussions had been held with the superintendent of the school district, the vice president for strategic marketing and planning at Union College, the president of SUNY Schenectady and the board of trustees, and invited Turturro to follow up outside the meeting for more detail. Williams said there had not yet been another committee meeting on the matter and that councilmembers could submit names for consideration.
The council record shows the application deadline set for Aug. 22. No vote or formal council direction to staff was recorded on Aug. 11 to change the appointment process or copyright terms; Turturro asked that the nominating-panel composition and appointment authority be clarified ahead of the deadline.
Next steps: Councilmembers were directed informally to forward questions and suggested nominees to the clerk or to individual councilmembers for follow-up; the council did not place the item on the agenda for committee discussion during the Aug. 11 meeting.
