-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Copyright of DRGs (fwd)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 17:04:48 -0500
From: Nat Case <[log in to unmask]>


------------------
disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, this is not a legal opinion, and you
should check with a lawyer if you want to get a legal opinion.

As a rule, only material prepared and released by the US Federal
government is automatically public domain. State and local agencies'
material is copyrighted, and you should check with them before you go
ahead.

Note that while many entities try to claim copyright over the
entirety of a work which includes Federal data, but it is only the
reformatting and additional non-federally-produced material that is
copyrightable; the original USGS information continues to be public
domain.

Nat Case
Hedberg Maps, Inc

>------------------
>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!!


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