For instance, say I post the full text from a page on a particular disease from the Center for Disease Control on this board. Does that violate this board’s posting policy? Does it violate any copyright laws as long as it is appropriately attributed? It would seem to me that the CDC would be more than happy to have their information disseminated.
Does it change anything if I make money off of using their work? Say I compile a book on all the diseases and whatnot posted on their web pages and try to sell it. As long as I properly attribute the work to the CDC am I violating copyright? Would the CDC care?
The important question is what does the author or rightsholder want to do with the material? It’s up to him whether he wants it publicly disseminated or not. Just because he posts it publicly for free doesn’t mean he wants it distributed further by others, nor has he given up his right to control it. If, as I assume, the sentences quoted by mblackwell are from the CDC’s website, then this answers your question w/r/t material from that site. Note also that much of the material created or authored by the U.S. government is not copywritten.
The Centers for Disease Control is part of the U.S. federal government, and the U.S. copyright code specifically prohibits the federal government form holding any copyrights on its own behalf. In other words, U.S. government documents, whether on paper or on the Web, are in the public domain.
17 USC 105
Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works
Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government; but the United States Govnerment is not precluded from receiving and holding copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest, or otherwise.