U.S. Government Works: Copyright, Exceptions, and Reuse Checks

Material created by federal employees as part of their jobs is in the public domain the moment it exists, and U.S. government works carry no copyright you have to clear before reusing them. That rule sits in 17 U.S.C. § 105, which denies copyright protection to any “work of the United States Government.”¹ The rule is narrower than it sounds, though. Contractor deliverables, third-party content embedded in federal documents, state and local publications, and even some materials produced by specific federal entities can all carry enforceable copyright.

What Counts as a Federal Government Work

The statute defines a government work as one prepared by an officer or employee of the federal government as part of that person’s official duties.¹ Two conditions must both be met. The creator has to be a federal employee, not a contractor, grantee, or volunteer. And the work has to fall within their assigned responsibilities.

A NASA scientist publishing mission results, a federal judge writing an opinion, a Bureau of Labor Statistics analyst compiling economic data, a service member producing official reports or imagery on duty — all government works. The Federal Register, the Congressional Record, the text of every bill introduced in Congress, every ruling handed down by a federal court: public domain. You can copy, redistribute, adapt, or sell any of it without permission or royalties. Public domain status attaches at creation. There’s no waiting period, no registration, no expiration to track.

“Official duties” is the phrase that does the work. A federal employee who writes a novel on weekends owns the copyright to that novel in full. The government job doesn’t strip protection from personal creative work done on personal time. Copyright in any work initially belongs to the author, and only the Section 105 carve-out changes that default for work done in an official capacity.²

Copyrighted Material Inside Government Publications

This is where reusers get tripped up most often. A government report, webpage, or database can contain photos, charts, maps, or text created by private parties who licensed the material for federal use. The publication as a whole may be public domain while those embedded pieces remain fully protected. The Government Publishing Office warns explicitly that federal publications may contain copyrighted material used with permission, and appearance in a government document does not authorize anyone else to reuse it without the copyright holder’s consent.³

Federal law reinforces this from the publisher’s side. When a compilation is mostly government work but includes some copyrighted material, the copyright notice must identify which portions are protected. Skipping that notice costs the publisher certain legal advantages in an infringement suit.⁴ Before you reuse anything from a federal document, check for copyright notices, photo credits, and attribution lines. A photograph in an agency report credited to a private photographer or a stock image service is almost certainly still copyrighted.

Contractors and Grant Recipients

Federal agencies rely on outside parties to produce enormous amounts of content, and none of it qualifies as government work under Section 105 — regardless of whether the government paid for it.

Contractor Deliverables

Under the standard federal procurement rule, the government receives unlimited rights in data first produced under a contract, meaning the government can use, reproduce, and distribute that data freely.⁵ Unlimited government rights are not the same thing as public domain. The contractor may still assert copyright in the same work, and data developed at private expense can be delivered with limited or restricted rights that prevent public disclosure.⁶ The specific contract terms control, and they vary by agency and by contract.

Grantees

Grantees who receive federal funding for research generally keep copyright in what they produce. The government secures a royalty-free, nonexclusive, irrevocable license for federal purposes, but the grantee holds primary ownership.⁷ A university researcher publishing findings from a federally funded study owns the copyright to that publication, taxpayer support notwithstanding. Don’t assume a document is public domain just because it lives on a .gov site or acknowledges federal funding. Look for licensing terms, copyright notices, or Creative Commons designations first.

Federal Entities That Break the Pattern

A few parts of the federal government sit outside Section 105’s general rule, and the exceptions catch people off guard.

U.S. Postal Service

The Postal Reorganization Act of 1971 turned the old Post Office Department into an independent establishment of the executive branch with corporate-like powers. Because of that restructuring, works produced by the USPS are not treated as “works of the United States Government” for copyright purposes and can be registered for protection.⁸ Postage stamps designed after 1971 can carry copyright. Stamps printed before 1971, when the Post Office was still a traditional government department, are public domain.

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian employs two categories of workers: federal employees paid from appropriated funds, and trust employees paid from the institution’s private endowment. Works by Smithsonian federal employees are public domain under Section 105. Works by Smithsonian trust employees are copyrighted by the institution, because those employees are not federal employees for purposes of the copyright statute.⁹ If you want to reuse a Smithsonian photograph or publication, knowing which category of employee created it matters — and that information is rarely obvious from the work itself.

NIST Standard Reference Data

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has a specific statutory exception allowing the Secretary of Commerce to secure copyright on standard reference data despite Section 105.¹⁰ Certain NIST scientific databases and reference materials can be copyrighted even though federal employees produce them. The exception is narrow: it covers standard reference data prepared under the Standard Reference Data Act, not everything NIST publishes.

Seals, Logos, and Official Insignia

Even when a government image is public domain under copyright law, other federal statutes can restrict how you use it. Federal agency seals, badges, and official insignia are protected by criminal law. Manufacturing, selling, or possessing an unauthorized reproduction of a federal agency badge or insignia is a federal crime punishable by up to six months in prison.¹¹

Some agency logos carry additional regulations. Commercial sale of the NASA “meatball” insignia as a standalone product is prohibited, and no one may use it in a way that implies NASA endorses a product or service. Souvenirs, clothing, toys, and similar merchandise bearing the NASA logo require advance approval from NASA Headquarters.¹² “No copyright” does not mean “no restrictions.” Trademark law, criminal statutes, and agency regulations can all limit your use of federal imagery even when copyright doesn’t.

State and Local Government Works

Section 105 applies only to the federal government. States, territories, counties, and cities can claim and enforce copyright in the materials they produce. Specialized databases, regional maps, educational resources, and promotional materials from state and local agencies are frequently copyrighted, and some jurisdictions use licensing fees as a revenue source. Policies vary widely, so check the specific jurisdiction’s terms.

The major exception is the government edicts doctrine, which holds that no one, including the government, can copyright the law itself. Statutes, court opinions, administrative regulations, and other binding legal texts must remain freely accessible. In 2020, the Supreme Court extended this significantly in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., ruling that annotations in Georgia’s official legal code were also ineligible for copyright. The Court held that the doctrine covers all works created by legislators in the course of their legislative duties, whether or not those materials carry the force of law.¹³ Explanatory notes, case summaries, and cross-references prepared by a state legislature’s own staff as part of an official code cannot be locked behind a paywall.

The doctrine has limits. It covers works produced by judges and legislators acting in their official capacity. It does not extend to every document a state agency produces. Administrative handbooks, tourism brochures, and GIS mapping data created by executive-branch employees remain copyrightable at the state level unless the specific state has waived that protection.

The Rule Is U.S.-Only

The public domain rule for federal government works is a feature of U.S. copyright law specifically. The statute says protection “under this title” is unavailable, and Congress did not intend the rule to affect protection of government works abroad.¹ In most other countries, whose domestic laws recognize government-authored works as copyrightable, the U.S. government can and does assert copyright in its own materials. If you operate outside the United States or distribute content internationally, a federal document that’s freely usable here may carry enforceable protections elsewhere.

When the Government Owns a Copyright It Didn’t Create

The same statute that denies copyright to government-created works explicitly allows the government to receive and hold copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest, or otherwise.¹ When a private party donates, bequeaths, or assigns a copyrighted work to a federal agency, that work does not enter the public domain. The copyright stays fully enforceable. Ownership is the only thing that changed.

This comes up more than you might expect. Photographers donate image collections to the National Archives. Authors bequeath manuscripts to federal libraries. Corporations assign software rights to agencies as part of settlement agreements. The government steps into the shoes of the original copyright holder, with the same right to restrict copying, distribution, and derivative works. The distinction that matters is between what the government created (public domain) and what it merely owns (fully copyrighted).

How to Verify Copyright Status Before You Reuse

Given the exceptions, checking a work’s status before reusing it is worth the time. Start with the document itself. Look for copyright notices, attribution lines, photo credits, and licensing terms. Federal agencies generally label copyrighted third-party content and include notices identifying protected portions when government works are mixed with copyrighted material.

For deeper research, the U.S. Copyright Office maintains a public records portal covering registrations and recorded transfers, including older records dating back more than a century.¹⁴ The Copyright Office also offers research services for anyone who needs help navigating the records.

When in doubt about a specific document, ask three questions. Was the creator a federal employee acting in their official capacity? Does the agency have a copyright policy posted on its website? Does any statutory exception, like the ones for NIST or USPS, apply? The safest assumption is that a work is copyrighted until you confirm otherwise. “I found it on a government website” has never been a successful defense against an infringement claim.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 105 – Subject Matter of Copyright: United States Government Works
2
U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright Law of the United States, Chapter 2 – Copyright Ownership and Transfer
3
Government Publishing Office. What Are the Copyright and Use Policies of GovInfo Content?
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 403 – Notice of Copyright: Publications Incorporating United States Government Works
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Acquisition.GOV. FAR 52.227-14 – Rights in Data-General
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Acquisition.GOV. FAR Subpart 27.4 – Rights in Data and Copyrights
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eCFR. 45 CFR 75.322 – Intangible Property and Copyrights
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U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright Lore: What About Those Attractive Postage Stamps? Are They Copyrighted?
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U.S. Copyright Office. Orphan Works Reply Comments – Smithsonian Institution
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 290e – United States Copyright and Renewal Rights
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 701 – Official Badges, Identification Cards, Other Insignia
12
eCFR. 14 CFR 1221.110 – Use of the NASA Insignia
13
Justia U.S. Supreme Court. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 590 US (2020)
14
U.S. Copyright Office. Search Copyright Records: Copyright Public Records Portal