# Congressional Record **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 15, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104 "2007-03-15T23:20:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/1 "2007-03-15T23:20:49Z")
Is the congressional record copywrited? My library has shelf after shelf of the congressional record. If I were to reprint something someone said in one, would I need to get a release from the publisher? Or is it considered part of the public domain? Anybody know? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/2 "2007-03-15T23:54:07Z")
It is not copyrighted and is in the public domain. Go nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/3 "2007-03-16T00:03:02Z")
Pretty much everything from the government is not under copyright. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/4 "2007-03-16T00:05:49Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] It is not copyrighted and is in the public domain. Go nuts. [/QUOTE] Based on my own memory, I’m very much inclined to agree with you, **Ravenman** – but if you have a quick-and-dirty _Cite_ to support that, I’ll venture to guess that the mods. here and people wanting to mine it for quotations in support of their views would be greatly appreciative. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/5 "2007-03-16T00:13:42Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Based on my own memory, I’m very much inclined to agree with you, **Ravenman** – but if you have a quick-and-dirty _Cite_ to support that, I’ll venture to guess that the mods. here and people wanting to mine it for quotations in support of their views would be greatly appreciative. [/QUOTE] From the [Congressional Record](http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/about.html) website: > [@](#): > > With the exception of copyrighted articles, there are no restrictions on the republication of material from the Congressional Record. So evidently copyrighted articles are sometimes published in it, but everything else is fair game. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/6 "2007-03-16T01:57:31Z")
Things that are not subject to copyright protection include: - works, like the phone book, that lack originality - US Government works (articles in the CR that are copyrighted are not government works) - works in the public domain - facts - ideas, procedures, concepts, or discoveries (some of these can be patented) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/7 "2007-03-16T02:09:38Z")
Not only is it legal to reprint a government publication, but you can charge money for it. If people want to pay for something that’s available for free – well, it’s a free country. But, **Long Time First Time** , the word is spelled COPYRIGHTED. It’s the right to control copies of your work. Nothing to do with writing it. That’s why records and movies can be copyrighted. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/8 "2007-03-16T02:32:50Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Based on my own memory, I’m very much inclined to agree with you, **Ravenman** – but if you have a quick-and-dirty _Cite_ to support that, I’ll venture to guess that the mods. here and people wanting to mine it for quotations in support of their views would be greatly appreciative. [/QUOTE] :o Apologies: I thought I had pasted the same GPO page **Colibri** linked to, but I was in error. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/9 "2007-03-16T02:36:16Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] So evidently copyrighted articles are sometimes published in it, but everything else is fair game. [/QUOTE] Members of Congress can enter pretty much anything they want, from newspaper editorials to letters from constituents to recipes for biscuits into the Congressional Record (under a procedure called “revise and extend”). Entry of a copyrighted item into the Congressional Record does not alter the copyright on that material. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/10 "2007-03-16T15:14:19Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Not only is it legal to reprint a government publication, but you can charge money for it. If people want to pay for something that’s available for free – well, it’s a free country. [/QUOTE] Indeed, this is the exact formula employed by Matthew Lesko (he of the question-mark-covered-suit who promises to GET YOU FREE GOVERNMENT MONEY). His books are pretty much just cut-and-paste jobs from federal government publications. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressional-record/396104/11 "2007-03-16T15:32:17Z")
Just to be clear, for otherss who might be reading this thread, that there is a difference between copyright and plagarism. If you take something from the Congressional Record (or any other public domain work) you should cite your source.