The copyright status of works produced by the governments of states, territories, and municipalities in the United States varies. Copyright law is federal in the United States. Federal law expressly denies U.S. copyright protection to two types of government works: works of the U.S. federal government itself, and all edicts of any government regardless of level or whether or not foreign.Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices, Chapter 200, § 206.01. As of 1998 supplement. "Edicts of government, such as judicial opinions, administrative rulings, legislative enactments, public ordinances, and similar official legal documents are not copyrightable for reasons of public policy. This applies to such works whether they are Federal, State, or local as well as to those of foreign governments." Other than addressing these "edicts of government", U.S. federal law does not address copyrights of U.S. state and local government.CENDI/2008-1 CENDI Frequently Asked Questions about Copyright: Issues Affecting the U.S. Government 3.1.3 "Does 17 USC §10560 apply to works of State and Local Governments?" "No, it applies only to federal government works. State and local governments may and often do claim copyright in their publications. It is their prerogative to set policies that may allow, require, restrict or prohibit claim of copyright on some or all works produced by their government units."
The U.S. Copyright Office gives guidance that "Works (other than edicts of government) prepared by officers or employees of any government (except the U.S. Government) including State, local, or foreign governments, are subject to registration if they are otherwise copyrightable."Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices, Chapter 200, § 206.03. As of 1998 supplement. This leaves such works with the usual copyright protection unless applicable state or local law declares otherwise. Those laws, in turn, vary widely: some state and local governments expressly claim copyright over some or all of their copyrightable works, others waive copyright and declare that all government-produced documents are in the public domain, and yet others have not clearly defined their policies on the question.
States
Arizona Works by the Arizona state government "are not in the public domain and are protected by copyright." Permission is generally required to use public records for commercial purposes. The Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, a division of the Arizona Secretary of State, tells readers that permission for commercial use must be obtained according to procedures described in ARS § 39-121.03.
California In 2009, the California Court of Appeal for the Sixth District, which has statewide jurisdiction, ruled, in County of Santa Clara v. California First Amendment Coalition, that the California Public Records Act did not provide authority for copyrighting government records subject to disclosure under the act. The Court noted that other provisions of California law do expressly provide for the copyright of specific types of materials created by the state. (archived copy at archive.org) The court noted that:
Colorado Under the Colorado Public Records Act documents and other works created by the state or local governments may be trademarked or copyrighted. Specifically:
Florida
Under Florida's Constitution and its statutes, the state and its agents are not permitted to claim copyright on its public records unless the legislature specifically permits it. This includes a work made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any state, regional, county, district, municipal, or other units of government and their associated committees and divisions created or established by the laws of the Government of Florida. Text, communications, and images produced by the government of Florida and any county, region, district, authority, agency, or municipal officer, department, division, board, committee, bureau, commission, or another separate unit of government created or established by law are consequently in the public domain according to court interpretation in Microdecisions, Inc. v. Skinner (2004).
The bar on copyright extends to any "public record made or received in connection with the official business of any public body, officer, or employee of the state, or persons acting on their behalf, except concerning records exempted [specifically by statute or specifically made exempt or] confidential by the Constitution. [It] specifically includes the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government and each agency or department created thereunder; counties, municipalities, and districts; and each constitutional officer, board, and commission, or entity created under law or [the Florida] Constitution."
There are various categories of works for which the legislature has specifically permitted copyright to be claimed, mostly for a few applications or development processes wherein the state derives income and while competing with private industries in the commercial realm, such as allowing the department of the lottery, the department of citrus, and some university research departments to secure copyrights for certain works that are expressly defined and narrowly limited.Florida Statutes §24.105(10)Florida Statutes §601.101Florida Statutes §1004.23 The list of valid exemptions is culled regularly via a sunset policy to exclude items put on the list by error or via legislation passed within a recent session that does not conform to the laws. The state is attempting to streamline its exemptions and the current status of works claiming an exemption must be verified as conforming to the laws before being presumed to be copyright since copyright may be claimed in error for things that remain a public record nonetheless.
Georgia Under the Constitution of Georgia and its statutes, the state and its agents are not permitted to claim copyright or prevent disclosure on or of its public records or works unless the legislature specifically permits it.[https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-50/chapter-18/article-4/section-50-18-71/ 2025 Code of Georgia Title 50 - State Government § 50-18-71. Right of access; timing; fees; denial of requests; impact of electronic records] Public works includes all work "created or received in the performance of duty and paid for by public funds". [https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-50/chapter-18/article-5/section-50-18-102/ 2025 Code of Georgia Title 50 - State Government § 50-18-102. Records as public property; disposing of records other than by approved retention schedule as misdemeanor; person acting under article not liable] All public works are able to be inspected or copyrighted unless otherwise exempted by law or by a court order.
The following agencies are permitted to claim copyright:
Georgia Court of Appeals – O.C.G.A § 50-18-34 (2023) (official reports of the decisions of the Court of Appeals, together with the usual title pages, indexes, etc.) Supreme Court of Georgia – O.C.G.A § 50-18-34 (2023) (official reports of the decisions of the Supreme Court, together with the usual title pages, indexes, etc.) Georgia Department of Revenue – O.C.G.A § 40-2-60.1, 85.3,and 86.1 (2023) (certain license plate designs) Georgia Lottery – O.C.G.A § 50-27-9 (2023) Georgia Department of Economic Development – § 50-7-8, O.C.G.A (2014)
Indiana Indiana's public records law does not allow public agencies (not state agencies as defined in Indiana Code 4-13-1-1) to place restrictions on public records: "that requires the public to obtain a license or pay copyright royalties for obtaining the right to inspect and copy the records unless otherwise provided by applicable statute; if the contract, obligation, license, or copyright unreasonably impairs the right of the public to inspect and copy the agency's public records".
Massachusetts The Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts informs the public that:
Those records created by Massachusetts government agencies and institutions held by the Massachusetts Archives are not copyrighted and are available for public use. Copyright for materials submitted to state agencies may be held by the person or organization that created the document. Patrons are responsible for clearing copyright on such materials.
Minnesota There are conflicting official legal opinions on the correct interpretation of state law, and courts have yet to rule on how to interpret the law. A state commissioner's statement from December 1994 reads, in part, "unless specified by the legislature, the public's right of access to and use of public government data cannot be curtailed by a government entity's claim of intellectual property rights in those data". The reading of that as meaning "public domain", however, is contradicted by this statement from December 1995 which comes from the Attorney General, claims to be of higher authority, and explicitly references the prior statement and clarifies that it should be read as applying to access to the data, and not the copyright of the data, and offers alternative phrasing for the above-quoted portion: "The department may not assert copyright ownership to deny members of the public their right "to inspect and copy public government data at reasonable times and places" under Minn. Stat. § 13.03, subd. 3 (1994)." A key question is how to interpret this statute, which reads:
For purposes of subd. 5, "Government entity" means a state agency, statewide system, or political subdivision. Political subdivisions include counties, cities, towns, school districts, and certain nonprofit corporations, each of which has authority under subd. 5 to enforce copyrights of works it has created, as does any state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, commission, authority, district or agency of the state, the University of Minnesota, and the state itself.
Missouri Some Missouri departments and commissions may hold copyright in their works. Missouri Revised Statute (RSMo) 630.095 states that executive departments may hold copyright for works for hire, whether works are made by department employees or by contractors. Further, RSMo 8.007 states that Missouri's State Capitol Commission may hold copyright and license works they create describing or depicting the Missouri capitol or capitol grounds.
New Jersey New Jersey states that all documents originating from web sites of executive departments and non-independent agencies are "available to the public and anyone may view, copy or distribute State information found here without obligation to the State" unless the document specifically states otherwise.State of New Jersey. "Conditions of Use Notice" (17 July 2010). Retrieved 2 July 2013. Likewise, all records obtained from the state, county, or local government entities in New Jersey via the state's Open Public Records Act (OPRA), per a 2009 decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court, may be reproduced including for commercial purposes.Burnett v. County of Bergen, 402 N.J.. Super 319 (2008).
According to the New Jersey Open Data Initiative Act (), all information listed on state agencies' open data web portals, "shall be treated as license-free, subject to reuse, and not subject to copyright restrictions". This effectively makes data published under this act in the public domain.
New York Courts have ruled that in general, works of this state are subject to copyright restrictions.
North Carolina