Are all government publications in the public domain?
Generally, U.S. government publications are considered in the public domain, meaning they can be copied, transmitted and otherwise used without restrictions. There are exceptions, however, such as U.S. Postal Service stamps. Some restrictions may apply if the government publication contains copyrighted information within it or was created by an outside government contractor. See Section 105 of the U.S. Copyright Statute for more details on this issue. If a publisher reprints government information, any enhancements or additions to the orignial work fall under copyright. State government publications may or may not be copyrighted. It is necessary to determine whether or not this is the case before using these materials. Foreign government publications are usually considered to be under copyright in accordance with several international copyright treaties.
