1 reply to this topic

[Kevin]

Hi Guys

I'm in the process of building a new site and I've come across a large number of information pages issued by the American government. It has the .gov ending.

Anyway I think I've read in the past that matterial coming from the US government is copywrite free, I appreciate it if somebody could advise me on this issue as this material would be very, very useful to me. It will also help me create many more information rich pages - and more adsense!!!

If it is copywrite free does it make any difference that I'm from Ireland? And finally, in what way, if any, do you have to acknowledge information taken from an American Government website?

Many thanks
Kevin
Ireland

[glen]

hi kevin,

i am just starting to look into this:

http://www.copyright.../circ1.html#wnp


WHAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT?
Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others:

• Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)
  
• Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents
  
• Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration
  
• Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)

Publications Incorporating U. S. Government Works
Works by the U. S. Government are not eligible for U. S. copyright protection. For works published on and after March 1, 1989, the previous notice requirement for works consisting primarily of one or more U. S. Government works has been eliminated. However, use of a notice on such a work will defeat a claim of innocent infringement as previously described provided the notice also includes a statement that identifies either those portions of the work in which copyright is claimed or those portions that constitute U. S. Government material.

Example: © 2002 Jane Brown. Copyright claimed in Chapters 7-10, exclusive of U. S. Government maps

Copies of works published before March 1, 1989, that consist primarily of one or more works of the U. S. Government should have a notice and the identifying statement.