Copyright in Government Publications: Historical Background, Judicial Interpretation, and Legislative Clarification

Abstract

Ever since l895, statutory provisions have prohibited the assertion of copyright in any publication of the United States Government. The article traces the development of the American common law and statutory prohibitions on copyright in government publications and synthesizes the various reasons the courts first, and then the Congress, determined that governmental works should not be copyrighted. The discussion will illustrate situations in which the courts have found the restriction applicable and will consider some of the other problems typically associated with the publication of materials created by government authors.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1976
Accession Number
ADA392794

Entities

People

  • Brian R. Price

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Copyrights
  • Employment
  • Freedom Of Speech
  • Government Employees
  • Governments
  • House Of Representatives
  • Intellectual Property
  • Law
  • Materials
  • National Security
  • Patents
  • Personnel Management
  • Public Policy
  • Supreme Court
  • United States
  • United States Government

Fields of Study

  • Law

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • International Journalism and Media Studies.
  • Theoretical Analysis.