this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2025
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Isn't the US govt exempt from copyright or is it just congress?
Works created by the U.S. government do not benefit from copyright protection.
I don't believe either the government in general or congress in specific have the blanket ability to ignore copyrights held by others.
That's stuff created by the government however there are also fair use provisions carved out for the government. I've had military guys claim the govt has complete fair use which I doubt.
I know congress can ignore copyright for debate and argument. So a member of congress pass around copies of material to other members of congress regardless of copyright.
I'm also pretty sure the government can't legally start streaming all the Disney movies to federal employees without permission. I'm not sure where the line between these twoexamples is however.
Analysis and review are fair uses available to everyone.
The military does have fairly broad ability to violate, or even nationalize (and then classify), copyright and patents. Technically they have to justify that with a national security claim, but those are rarely reviewed or rejected. I doubt any of the U.S. armed forces pays for a public performance fee when barracks movie night exceeds 10 individuals, even if the movie is Disney.