7 Train wrote:Quasi-federal agencies (Amtrak included) can be be allowed to copyright material as the restrictions on federal government agencies apply only to executive branch departments and agencies and the legslative branch (Congress). The law varies with state and local governments, with some states allowed copyright on government work, others not.
Those must be state policies or state constitutional provisions. Copyright is a federal law and all states are free to copyright should they desire to do so.
dudeursistershot wrote:The United States government is not legally allowed to copyright material. Whether this extends to state government (or quasi-governmental agencies) is an interesting question.
It applies to federal government entities, but not states, which are free to copyright material. Note that by federal statute, Amtrak is not a federal entity (stock was distributed to a number of freight railroads upon Amtrak's inception) and therefore is not restricted.
jwhite07 wrote:I would assume the MBTA signage design concept is "intellectual property" of Cambridge Seven Associates, not the MBTA. They were the ones who came up with it.
http://www.c7a.com/Portfolio/transporta ... zation.asp#
That would be unusual. Generally the copyright is transferred to the entity that paid for the work for things like logos, designs, etc. for a specific client, by the contract. I suspect MBTA owns the copyright, or at a minimum, has control over it.