I was going to use content from this site - http://www.fldfs.com/ which is the Florida Department of Financial Services. I remember reading somewhere that government-produced information can be used by the public freely, but I didn't know if I could use information that they produce on a website I'm developing. I tried contacting them to ask, but like usual, they didn't reply.
Providing you do not claim the information as your own and link back to them, then I do not see the harm.
HealingTone, providing a link back does not automatically make you in compliance with copyright laws. Please, don't advise people on issues you have no knowledge of. The government holds the copyright for that work, I don't advise copying it from them. Now, if what you want to use is a fact, you can use it, under fair use. PyramidSeo, what?
look for the copyright info on the site. If they confirm its public domain, you can use it as is, tho why you'd want to I have no idea. If you think you can rank higher than THEM for THEIR content, good luck!
By law, the government can't claim copyrights on their content. It's all public domain, because it was created with tax payers money. Most government websites state as much in their terms pages. The only thing one should be careful of is if images have an identifiable person in them, if so you would need a release to use the images. There is a question of "contracted" content, some state the contractor retains the copyrights, some say it was a work for hire so the government owns the work, thus it's public domain. That's iffy, a case of contracted copyrights has never been brought before the Supreme Court that I am aware of. This for US content, other countries of course have their own laws. Public domain work doesn't even require a link back, one just can't claim it as their own work or they would be held liable for plagiarism. Added: After looking at the site in question, this is not a .gov site it's a .com site. The only way to be sure that you're using government content would be to use content from sites with the .gov extensions. Also, on that sites terms page, they specifically state that you cannot use their content. They may not be able to legally prevent you from using it, but can you afford to challenge their terms in court? If not, find a .gov site that specifically states it's content is public domain content.