-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Copyright of DRGs (fwd)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:07:05 -0700
From: Kathy Stroud <[log in to unmask]>
------------------
disclaimer: I'm not a copyright lawyer, so don't quote me in a law case...
Federal information is copyrighted in the sense that you can't take it and
claim it as your own. However, you are allowed to use it (giving proper
credit) for your own gain. A concrete example is I couldn't take the CIA's
World Fact Book and publish it as my own work. However, I can print a nice
version of the CIA Fact Book and sell it for profit without having to pay
royalties. Electronic data seems to work the same way. If you want to take
freely available federal data and repackage it for resale, that's okay.
Be careful when working with State data. Many states take the same stance
as the federal government. However, some states do not, especially with
large electronic datasets which they can sell to recoup some of the expense
of producing them. So, there's no easy answer on state data. It depends who
produced it. You really need to contact the providers.
Local governments are even less likely to have their data be "public
domain."
Kathy Stroud, Librarian
Government Information and Maps
Shields Library
100 N.W. Quad
University of California
Davis, CA 95616-5292
530-752-5248
----- Original Message -----
From: "Johnnie D. Sutherland" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 1:48 PM
Subject: Copyright of DRGs (fwd)
> ------------------
> Hi, all:
>
> I need your combined wisdom to answer this email. I think the answer is
> that all gov information distributed by gov agencies are not copyrighted.
> The geospatial data we have on INSIDE Idaho are also public domain data,
> so he should be able to package the data and distribute them as commercial
> data for profit. I know, in the past, quite a few gov docs have been
> republished and sold through commercial publishers. Digital data would be
> treated the same. The DRGs and DOQQs on INSIDE Idaho have been worked on,
> and enhanced for public access, but we never thought of copyright the data
> and it would be contrary to the idea of a statewide clearinghouse for
> distributing geospatial data. Any input you can provide would be
> appreciated. Thanks. Lily
>
> Lily Wai, INSIDE Idaho Project Director Phone: 208-885-6344
> Professor, Head of Government Documents Fax: 208-885-6817
> University of Idaho Library (0135) E-Mail:[log in to unmask]
> Rayburn Street http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/govdoc
> Moscow, Idaho 83844-2353 http://inside.uidaho.edu
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 16:50:08 +0000
> From: Greg Thorhaug <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Copyright of DRGs
>
> Hello Lily,
> I am interested in downloading DRG and other data from publicly available
> web sites (such as INSIDE) and packaging it as a product for sale. What
are
> the laws regarding this? Do I need to pay a fee or is the data "in the
> public domain" and, if so, does this mean that I can package DRG/DOQQ and
> vector data from your site, as well as other government sites, as a
product
> that I could sell? I would appreciate as much information and resources
on
> this subject that you have available. Thanks!!
>
|
