Screenscraping .gov website

[ins7000]

I know it's legal to use any information from public domain, but let's say there is a database on a .gov website, it has web interface, but playing with querystring I can get the info I need and just scrape it from the HTML page.
How will it hold in terms of copyright violation?
Should I look for any specific messages which prohibit you from using info in this database? Or the law is as simple as whatever is accessible through the .gov website can be copied?

[stevehbs]

You talking about just using a table or content?

[ins7000]

What table? I'm talking about database and it's content.

[Clinton Labombard]

If you're quoting small sections and including credit to where you found it and who it belongs to, then it should be okay. Don't copy everything on the page and display it without permission. However, if it really is in public domain (and stated as such), then it's fair game. If it's an adaptation of a public domain work then it may be held under someone's copyright, so be careful of that as well.

[Kufu]

I may be wrong (I jut realized what a stupid saying that is...lol), but I think all content from U.S. government sites would be available for U.S. citizens to use, as all the content is paid for by taxpayers.

I have never seen a copyright notice at the bottom of any government sites.

How off am I on this?

[ccam96]

Information found on Government sites are public domain.

[john_k]

You should not assume that all information on a U.S. government site is in the public domain. Government sites sometimes display information that was contributed by non-government entities. In those cases, they will note it on the website. The American Memories site is a good example. They often contain content contributed from private collections.

[BigDave]

In those cases, they will note it on the website.

That is not always safe to assume either. I would only use it if it was obviously produced by the government.

If it is a database like the USDA nutrition tables, then it is pretty obviously government produced. Of course many of those databases are available to download without having to scrape the site.