"In May, GPO announced a plan to implement Depository Library Council (DLC) Recommendation No. 1 (Fall 2017) of providing copyright information in the bibliographic records created by GPO in support of the Federal Depository Library Program and the Cataloging and Indexing Program, as mandated by Title 44 of the U.S. Code: https://www.fdlp.gov/news-and-
"GPO would like your feedback on this plan, and we have extended the deadline for comments to August 24, 2018.
"GPO intends to add a general copyright statement in the MARC 542 field, Information Relating to Copyright Status in Bibliographic Records, which will read:
"‘Works of the U.S. Government are not subject to copyright protection pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 105. This work may contain copyrighted material used with permission of the copyright owner. Learn more at the CGP’s About page.’
"A screenshot of a test record and the text of the additional copyright and use information are provided here: https://www.fdlp.gov/file-
"We hope to submit the final recommendation to the DLC by Sept. 1 and make the final decision when the general statement will be added to Catalog of U.S. Government Publications records.
"Please send your comments to Fang Gao at fgao@gpo.gov and Stephen Kharfen at skharfen@gpo.gov by Aug. 24."
I get how this is a good idea, in theory. Not everyone knows that many government documents are in the public domain. It doesn't help that, in order to make corporations happy, the government has been downplaying the importance of the public domain for nearly a century. Adding a cataloging note seems like a weak course correction, but at least it's something.
That said, the wording they want to add seems much more negative and deterring than it could be. It could read "Works of the U.S. Government are almost always in the public domain, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 105. Exceptions can be used with permission of the copyright owner."
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