How to Find out whether Government Info is copyrighted or not.

I would like to know how you tell if it is or not?

[btahead]

If the information is copyrighted is there always smallprint at the bottom of the screen? For instance I would like to use some information from the cfda website (www.cfda.gov), but I am not sure whether it is copyrighted or not. They will not reply to my emails, and they do not have any copyright smallprint at the bottom of the pages, so can I assume that i can?
Thanks

[agerhart]

The majority of government website content is public domain.

[btahead]

So does this mean I can use the cfda website content?

[agerhart]

No, it means that most of the content on sites like these are public domain. I would try to call and email them to find out. If they don't answer you, I would assume it is public domain and use the content, citing the source.

[BigDave]

Any work produced by the goverment of the US is public domain. But not every work that is "published" by the government is "produced" by the government.

So you run the risk of reproducing something that is copyrighted by someone else, butthe government has a license to reproduce.

The goverment is also able to hold a copyright that has been assigned to it by the original author. This can complecate things quite a bit.

But, if you make an honest (and well documented) attempt to find out if it is covered by a copyright, and you have every reason to believe that it a produced by the government, you are on reasonably safe ground.

[maddie]

If you give the proper accredidation to the source, you shouldn't have any problems.