Free reports from Government agencies

5 replies
Is it legal to take Pdf or text reports from government agencies, and state and local included that do not say copyright, ect and turn these into reports for me to sell.

In other words, If i take 3 free pamphlets, and make an ebook, is that legal if any one knows.
#agencies #free #government #reports
  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Just because something doesn't have a copyright notice does not mean it's in the public domain.

    Most of the materials you mentioned were created using public tax money, and thus are free to use as you describe. There are exceptions, though.

    Your best bet is to contact the agency offering the material and ask about copyright.

    On a side note, though, most of the pamphlets and such offered by the government are boring and dry. A mashup of three such pamphlets would be triply boring, IMO. Of course, that's only a consideration if you care about what happens after you get the money...
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    • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
      The government websites and publications are usually pretty clear about what one can and can't do with the information. e.g., The original USGS video that I used below said that it was fine to re-use with proper attribution, even providing exact copy/paste verbiage, (which of course I used).

      Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

      On a side note, though, most of the pamphlets and such offered by the government are boring and dry. A mashup of three such pamphlets would be triply boring, IMO.
      This can actually be a positive thing, since that makes it pretty easy to improve upon the presentation. For example, this video was originally published by the USGS with absolutely no audio.

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  • Profile picture of the author ForumGuru
    Banned
    Originally Posted by pcpupil View Post

    Is it legal to take Pdf or text reports from government agencies, and state and local included that do not say copyright, ect and turn these into reports for me to sell.

    In other words, If i take 3 free pamphlets, and make an ebook, is that legal if any one knows.
    While most official U.S. Gov content is public domain, a lot of state and local and stuff is copyrighted and is not in the public domain.

    Use this interactive map to check state jurisdictions, restrictions, and contact information...it's a great place to start.

    Copyright at Harvard Library

    Green states are as good as it gets.

    Cheers

    -don
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  • Profile picture of the author pcpupil
    Thanks guys. I will check around.
    As if i can get a definate answer from some one from the gov.
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  • Profile picture of the author CityCowboy
    You need to make sure the government reports you want to use are In the public domain.
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