A work of the United States Government, meaning only the federal government, not state or local government, is defined in United States Copyright Law as "a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person's official duties". Such works are public domain under U.S. law. Certain works, particularly logos of government agencies, while public domain, are still protected by other non-copyright laws. For example, the Central Intelligence Agency logo cannot be used deceptively without permission, in order to prevent the appearance of endorsement, under the CIA Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. section 403m). "In accordance with the objectives of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 [Pub. L. 91–375, which enacted title 39, Postal Service], this section does not apply to works created by employees of the United States Postal Service." [1]
The federal government can hold copyrights to works when they are transferred to it, as can happen with work produced by contractors. For example, the federal government purchased the United States copyright to Madison's Notes from Dolley Madison for $30,000 upon Madison's death.
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