One of my projects at my job is to go through reams of information and distill it into new, easily-readable (5th grade literacy level or lower) self-help documentation we can give out via printed brochures and the web.
My boss had two gigantic file folders full of all sorts of accumulated papers and he invited me to go through it in case anything would be useful. I just went through one of them to see generally what was in it and found a whole bunch of documents on how to apply for public benefits. I then found at the bottom of the pile a letter folded around a disk. The letter read in part:
"As per your request, enclosed please find a computer disk which contains client advice materials developed by [other agency] regarding public assistance matters ... Because [other agency] has spent a substantial amount of time developing and writing the materials, and because of the possibility of competitive bidding for the provision of legal services to low-income clients, the materials are copyrighted and [other agency] owns all of the rights to the materials incident to that copyright.The license we are granting you is non-exclusive, royalty free, and may be used solely in furtherance of the representation of low-income clients. Please feel free to reproduce, copy or otherwise use the materials. The materials, however, may not be sold, nor may they be used outside of the scope of the license. Last, [other agency] retains the sole discretion to revoke this license ..."
The agency granted this license is actually not the one I work for, and I'm not sure if this one is a successor in interest.
So suffice it to say, I don't plan to use these materials. The last thing my agency needs is someone coming after them for copyright infringement. I THOUGHT we were all supposed to be on the same side, but perhaps not.
(Besides, the documentation is all from 1995. I'm sure things have changed and it's just not worth the risk of taint to mess with them.)