Re: NEC Licence (Work of US Gov. Employees)

[Ben Pfaff <pfaffben@msu.edu>]

Raul Miller <rdm@test.legislate.com> writes:

   John Hasler <john@dhh.gt.org> quotes Title 17:
   >      (b) The copyright in a compilation or derivative work extends only to
   >      the material contributed by the author of such work, as distinguished
   >      from the preexisting material employed in the work, and does not imply
   >      any exclusive right in the preexisting material. The copyright in such
   >      work is independent of, and does not affect or enlarge the scope,
   >      duration, ownership, or subsistence of, any copyright protection in
   >      the preexisting material.

   But there is no copyright on U.S. Government issued materials, nor
   on public domain materials, so this paragraph isn't really relevant.

But it is.  It says that you can't extend a copyright of your own to
something that you didn't write.  It doesn't say that the preexisting
material has to be copyrighted itself.