Re: Using NASA Imagery
* Don Armstrong <don@debian.org> [090117 20:01]:
> On Sat, 17 Jan 2009, Miriam Ruiz wrote:
> > Does anyone know if NASA conditions [1] are DFSG-free? According to
> > what's written there, it seems to me that they're public domain
> > (NASA still images; audio files; video; and computer files used in
> > the rendition of 3-dimensional models, such as texture maps and
> > polygon data in any format, generally are not copyrighted.""), but I
> > want to make sure.
> Because NASA as a US government agency can't copyright things it
> produces directly, they're usually DFSG free. (It's the equivalent of
> public domain in the US.) [Specific examples of work are needed to
> figure out whether that's the case in a specific instance.]
I know this is general accepted knowledge, but has anyone ever asked
a layer knowledgable in international copyright law about it?
It is sure public domain in the US, but I see no reason why it should
be public domain outside. From what I have read the US goverment holds
the copyright outside the US and the only way it could be public domain
in other countries is that either US explicitly waives it rights even
in other countries (which I think it does not) or other countries' law
making it public domain. As other countries usually do not have a
section stating things made for the US government are public domain,
the only argument I've found is that most countries have some reciprocity
for copyright of foreign subjects. But trying to understand the German law
text (as some example, as I hope to understand that best), I think it
says copyright of foreigners is protected if their country would protect
the copyright of locals, and then applies the local rules of what is
copyrightable and makes no exception for things that would not have been
protectable abroad.
Hochachtungsvoll,
Bernhard R. Link
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