Can you republish public records (public property tax records in particular) or are they copyrighted by the government?

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1. Licensed in NJ

   

   Michael T MillarPro

   Toms River Litigation Lawyer

   Contributor Level 18

   

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   Answered November 09, 2012 06:44. Government records are, generally, not copyrighted.

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   • Michael Millar

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2. 

   Pamela Koslyn

   Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Attorney

   Contributor Level 20

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   Answered November 03, 2012 00:27. With a few exceptions, the U.S. government doesn't have IP rights, so this data is available to anyone. And as you can see from a casual internet search, lots of companies have made businesses out of publicly available data, such as manta, and even this one, which gets lawyers and doctors' state licensing information to create profiles and encourages this Q&A interaction.
   
   You do need to be mindful of a few things, such as misrepresenting that your directory is from the government, or from some other source, which could create trademark disputes, and such as using obsolete or inaccurate information, which would require the use of disclaimers and statements about no warranties being offered, etc.
   
   You also have the task of choosing a viable and available trademarkable name and domain name for this service, which again raises trademark issues. As with launching any new business, your safest bet is to consult a lawyer before launch.

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3. 

   Konrad SherinianPro

   Naperville Intellectual Property Law Attorney

   Contributor Level 13

   

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   Answered November 04, 2012 04:03. With few exceptions, most U.S. Government and State records are freely available for use.

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   • The Law Offices of Konrad Sherinian, LLC

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