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Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2002 18:54:47 -0500
From: Dennis McClendon <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: copyright question <fwd>
Sender: Dennis McClendon <[log in to unmask]>



>Does anyone know if there is now or if there ever was a copyright on the Army
>Map Service maps from the 1950s?  I'm particularly interested in the U502
>series of India at 1:250,000.  Can these maps be included in a publication
>without seeking copyright permission from the government?

They can, presuming they were published by the Army Map Service (and
not the Indian government, for instance).

The U.S. copyright statute includes this specific exemption (17 USC 105):
     "Copyright protection under this title is not available for any
     work of the United States Government, but the United States
     Government is not precluded from receiving and holding copyrights
     transferred to it by assignment, bequest, or otherwise."

(This is the wording of the 1976 statute, but the former statute
included the same provision). Maps published by the federal
government are therefore copyright free.
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Dennis McClendon, Chicago CartoGraphics
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