At 01:13 AM 2/16/03 -0800, Zoe wrote:
While looking at the [[Legionnaires' disease]] page, I noticed a lot of information that looked like it had been copied from somewhere. Indeed, it had come from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/legionellosis_g.htmhttp://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/legionellosis_g.htm. The person who had put it on the page claimed that it was public domain. Looking at the CDC's home page, I find "In general all information presented in these pages and all items available for download are for public use."
Does this mean we can use the information at that website?
Yes we can. All publications by the US government are in the public domain. This does *not* apply to publications by other governments: it is a deliberate choice by the US government.