I know that some images on LOC are copyrighted and cannot be duplicated, but I am under the impression that unless otherwise noted, and with good reason, all government produced documents, including images are in the public domain. Can somebody poke holes in that statement? The reason that I'm asking is that I have a need to publish some government published images where no copyright information is available, nor a locally published FAQ.
OK... after much searching, I did find an answer to my question on the site in question. That doesn't necessarily make the question a moot point, however.
I have seen many government sites such as NASA and FBI that expressly gran the use of images available in certain areas, and others that allow you to download images or reproduce content under the fair use of copyrighted works
Any work that is financed by federal government can not be copyrighted. You have to look if those pictures have been produced by government or are they buying it from some one else to use on their site.
That is not totally correct ... USPS is financed to a big part by federal government money, and their stuff is copyrighted. Timo
Good point, but the USPS isn't the government. I suppose the same would go for Fannie Mae or any other pseudo-enterprise financed by Uncle Sam.
USPS is an special case and the exception is mostly about protecting the design of stamps. There are also some logo that are protected and can not be used without permission such as CIA but as a general rule works by federal government are free from copyright.
Another exception - www.secretservice.gov - take a look on the websites bottom. .... Copyright © 2006 United States Secret Service. All rights reserved. ... Timo
Logo is most likely protected but have you checked if congress has given them any exemption to federal copyright law for the rest of materials? It is my experience that many web sites will write copyright at the bottom of their web site without defining what they mean or even thinking if such copyright is enforceable.
Most of the US Gov web sites have a copyright info page that says what's in the public domain. My understanding is that material generated by federal employees in the course of their work for the federal government are in the public domain (e.g. the images from NASA). However, many of the government web sites have material from both federal employees and other sources, so you can't automatically assume every image in the in the public domain. The good thing is that they are usually clearly labeled: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/dos/3797.htm http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/disclaim.htm (scroll to the bottom - asks you to get permission for commercial use) http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/national_page/Notices_used_in_Footer/digital_rights__copyright.html http://www.nih.gov/about/Faqs.htm#copyright The secret service site seems to be an exception.