Question concerning Internet public domain information

[mwilks]

What is the name of your state? NJ

I would like to know if there are any legal constraints on copying public domain information (word for word) from a government site (CDC or NLM) for use in an Internet commercial/business endeavor.

The site states that the information is in the public domain and can be copied or distributed freely, but does that include for commercial use?

Thank you.
MJW

 

[tbird]

What is the name of your state? NJ

I would like to know if there are any legal constraints on copying public domain information (word for word) from a government site (CDC or NLM) for use in an Internet commercial/business endeavor.

The site states that the information is in the public domain and can be copied or distributed freely, but does that include for commercial use?

Thank you.
MJW

What is the source of their page ? May we should see it before we can answer the question ?

Timo

 

[mwilks]

The website is
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/

The information I am referring to is the individual clinical trial information under the disease/medical condition category.

Can this information be copied for commercial purpose?
thanx

 

[Veronica01]

I followed the link you provided for National Library Medicine (NLM). At the bottom of that page there is a link “Copyright and privacy policy” which I presume you have examined. That link led to the page from which I extracted this paragraph:

"NLM Copyright Information
Government information at NLM Web sites is in the public domain. Public domain information may be freely distributed and copied, but it is requested that in any subsequent use the National Library of Medicine (NLM) be given appropriate acknowledgement. When using NLM Web sites, you may encounter documents or other information resources contributed or licensed by private individuals, companies, or organizations that may be protected by U.S. and foreign copyright laws. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by http://www.loc.gov/copyright/fls/fl102.pdf (PDF) as defined in the copyright laws requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Specific NLM Web sites containing protected information provide additional notification of conditions associated with its use."

The text is clear and precise and I don’t think any one can add anything to it. If you haven’t seen it, take notice of it. If you had seen it, so what is your question? Do you realize that it contains a lot of links and references to protected material? To reproduce all of this you are exposing yourself to liability.

Now, may I ask you why you would want to reproduce it and distributed on your own. You could give a link to it, or a reference to it in printed document.

 

[mwilks]

Thank you for your response. Although the message concerning the copyright was clear, I still had some lingering questions concerning the use of public domain information.

I was considering a critical examination of clinical trials for various disease/medical condition indications in printed form. I figured earlier that I did not want to alter the information provided in a particular trial data sheet from the site in any way since I would like to provide the contact info along with the clinical trial data and present/future patients may be misled from a possible omission from the original clinical trial information. As the copyright information states, I can obtain copyright permission from certain private companies, private individuals or private organizations to use the information. Would it be permissable to restate portions of the clinical trial information provided by government sources from the website with no such private contributions or licenses provided by the parties listed above and of course provide the appropriate reference or link? It is not my intention to represent the information as my own but rather to include it along with my own analysis and content.

Please forgive my ignorance on these matters, however I would really find the inclusion of portions of the information or paraphrased portions of certain clinical trial data helpful to my book.

thank you.

 

[Veronica01]

You wrote:

“Would it be permissable to restate portions of the clinical trial information provided by government sources from the website with no such private contributions or licenses provided by the parties listed above and of course provide the appropriate reference or link.”

In general yes, depending on how you understand "provided by government sources". Information provided by the government is sometimes the outgrowth of research grants funded by government agencies. Those government agencies do not claim exclusive copyright. That means, the investigating agency could copyright their publications. If the information you are seeking falls in this category, chances are you could not use such information without proper permission from the investigators. For you to protect yourself, find out who generated the material you wish to publish and inquire with them whether you would need their permission. Get this work done by correspondence, printed or electronic, but not by telephone, and keep the record permanently in your files.

You can use some information without permission but you should give reference to the source, e.g., the rate of death of pulmonary cancer was 12% of total incidences in 2001 (CompanyName, 2001, NLM (linked).