Released by or released from

Question

Good Evening !When I write something like :the document was released from the Department of the NavyORthe document was released by the Department of Navy.I think the first  answer is correct, but at work there were some discrepancies.(I work with either Native Americans  or ESL)Would you let me know,please?RegardsInstructor1955

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Either preposition can be correct. For example:

He was released from prison. (from meaning "out of")
The news was released by Associated Press. (meaning authorship)

Avangi · Answer

Hi,

By the Navy is correct and most common.

"From" is conceivable, but has a somewhat different meaning.

She was released from jail by the Department of Corrrections.

The document was released from the Navy archives.

Here is the latest release from the Department of the Navy. (release is a noun here)

If you say "The document was released from the Department of the Navy," it definitely implies that the document had previously been retained by them.
And even in this event, "released by the Department of the Navy" would clearly be preferred.

But you'll definitely sometimes hear, "This was just released from the D.O.N."

I sort of take it as two statements: "This was just released. It's from the D.O.N."

I can't think of any case or situation where "by" should not be used in your example.

Best regards, - A.

CalifJim · Answer

released
from [the place where the subject was held or imprisoned]
by [the person or institution which did the releasing]

Both the from and the by phrases are optional.

Documents are not usually thought of as held or imprisoned, so it would be released by the Department of the Navy.

CJ

Avangi · Answer

There has been a lot in the news lately about documents in the US being released under the Freedom of Information Act, after having been held in secret for decades.
Still, even in this case, I believe that "released by" is the preferred expression.

CalifJim · Answer

"released from secrecy", perhaps???

CJ

Avangi · Answer

[Y]

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Avangi!

Thanks for the answer, so in other words I may say that my Diploma was either released by the Italian Education Department or from the Italian Education Department.

Regards

Instructor1955

Clive · Answer

Hi,

so in other words I may say that my Diploma was either released by the Italian Education Department or from the Italian Education Department.

The word 'released' suggests that they were delaying it for some reason.

eg They had it, but they wouldn't release it until I sent them a copy of my birth certificate.

Anyway, 'released' may not be the word you are looking for.

If you said to this department, 'Please create and give me this document', you'd say

My Diploma was issued by the Italian Education Department .

eg In my case, my driver licence was issued by the Ontario Dept. of Motor Vehicles. They issued it because that is their job. If I lose it, then they'll issue a new one for me.

A diploma normally relates to education.

If I study at Oxford University, I would normally say

I have a diploma from Oxford or I earned my diploma at/from Oxford.

I wouldn't say 'My diploma was issued by Oxford'.

Best wishes, Clive

Avangi · Answer

I agree with Clive that under normal circumstances "released by / from" is not the right word for a diploma.

It works well for a news item: "This just in from / This just released by the D.O.N."

And it works for an internal document which is now being made public:

"After fifty years, the *** is now releasing its files on the Kennedy assassination."

Released by or released from

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