Can municipal, state or the federal governments own copyrights? Or everything they make has to be public?

Answer 1

the federal government cannot copyright, as the material was produced using public funds. the government is not a person, so "life plus 75 years" is meaningless. however, independent contractors working for the government can copyright their own works if there is not a for-hire agreement. the government has other methods available to prevent public access to its documents. fraudulant use of government documents is a more severe crime than simple copyright infringement. photos and speeches by federal workers in the course of their official duties cannot be copyrighted either.

inferior government agencies, for example state universities, can claim certain copyrights in the name of trustees or other designated individuals. this is a gray area of law and generally the public's right to know what their government does trumps any "copyright" restrictions.

Answer 2

A copyright is not a secret. An agency can copyright a form and the benefits of that copyright flow to the government that agency is part of. If another state's agency wants to use that copyrighted form the originating agency could ask for a licensing fee or other benefit in return for that use.

One advantage of the copyright is that it can be another barrier to "phishing" in that making a website that resembles an official copyrighted one is another prosecutable offense if they locate those doing the bogus site.

Answer 3

sup[ose to be public