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The new telescope delivers stunning images of the cosmos which are available on NASA's web site.

The content use policy page states:

Unless otherwise specifically stated, no claim to copyright is being asserted by STScI and material on this site may be freely used as in the public domain in accordance with NASA's contract.

Does "in the public domain" mean that I can legally make prints of those images and sell them in order to make money, for example in a store or flea market?

Peter - Reinstate Monica
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  • Laws of other countries (which may not recognize public domain) may force the US government to have a copyright on the material, but within in the USA, government works are public domain. See also: https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/31330/can-the-us-government-assert-copyright-on-a-government-work-internationally – crasic Nov 02 '22 at 18:38
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    Note that nothing whatsoever is stopping anyone from charging money for physical objects that contain Public Domain information. You might have trouble finding a buyer if its free elsewhere, but if someone wants to pay you for it, you can sell. That's kind of the whole point of Public Domain. – T.E.D. Nov 02 '22 at 19:19
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    I think you meant flea market rather than flee market. Ukraine and Russia currently are flee markets. A place where you see prints, etc., is a flea market. Unfortunately, a one character change is not a valid edit except by those with high privileges. – David Hammen Nov 03 '22 at 14:14
  • @David Lol, yes! As an aside, I don't understand the 1-character rule. Hm, I added a space to Martins answer below, do I have enough rep? – Peter - Reinstate Monica Nov 03 '22 at 14:20
  • You can digitally enhance it, print it on photographic paper, and put it in a pretty frame with a nice glass cover. The image however isn't yours, despite all of the image processing you may have done. But you can sell that nicely enhanced and framed image for however much the public is willing to shell out. – David Hammen Nov 03 '22 at 14:31

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Yes.

I am tempted to leave the above as the entirety of my answer, but to expand:

Yes, you can do that. You won't (as a business matter) be able to charge all that much because many people will realize they can just download a similar picture from the net and print it off themselves. You can charge a bit because you've framed them (perhaps), and chosen the nicest, and perhaps you have a better printer, or have used the expensive glossy paper. Also, if you are successful charging a lot, other people will start selling the same pictures for slightly less (and you won't be able to stop them).

Peter - Reinstate Monica
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Martin Bonner supports Monica
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    Also the same in case of most opensource software. You can sell a copy of Linux kernel, at any price you wish. – Anish Sheela Nov 02 '22 at 09:52
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    @AnishSheela (and Martin): Thanks for the clarification. As an aside at Martin: There may be some value in being able to find and navigate the web site, preparing the image for print and, yes, the "craftsmanship" part of putting it in a frame etc. because Mr. and Mrs. Smith aren't able to do that, or even if are willing to pay for the service. – Peter - Reinstate Monica Nov 02 '22 at 09:59
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    @Peter-ReinstateMonica You can even create a service to order printed pictures. Great business idea. It is the NASA's intention behind making it public domain. Public funded it, so it should be available for public to use however they want. – Anish Sheela Nov 02 '22 at 10:09
  • @AnishSheela Yes, I'm all for making publicly funded services available to, well, the public, alas... ;-) – Peter - Reinstate Monica Nov 02 '22 at 10:53
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    Out of curiosity, could you copyright a specific use of the pictures? Like if someone did a fancy layout that makes the picture pop out, does just the fact that the core is public domain make the whole thing ineligible to copyright? – Alan Nov 02 '22 at 18:43
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    @Alan - In general (in the US at least), yes. See https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.pdf . You have to do something to it, and of course nothing stops anyone else from taking the original and doing roughly the same thing to it themselves. – T.E.D. Nov 02 '22 at 19:25
  • @AnishSheela Technically, there is no direct intention to "mak[e] it public domain." Since NASA is a U.S. government agency, anything created by it is uncopyrightable under current U.S. copyright law. – A. R. Nov 02 '22 at 20:56
  • @AndrewRay I wouldn't be so sure about "direct intention" comment, the institute that publishes these images is a private entity and not a government agency, this disclaimer is indicating that the terms of their contract preclude them from asserting copyright. I would also take it as intent not to persue copyright claims even in corner cases where they may exists (e.g. internationally). – crasic Nov 02 '22 at 22:29
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    "many people will realize they can just download a similar picture from the net and print it off themselves". Indeed. Still, in 2019 I paid over 100 € for a high-quality print of the Carina nebula since I do not have a printer doing 160 x 80 cm on canvas. There is a market, but it's probably covered by the generic printing services. – Hermann Nov 02 '22 at 23:59
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    There is also an issue because people confuse price and value. Some folk will assume that a product they pay for is better than a product that they can get for free. I realize that many open source developers may think that ridiculous (I do too!), but many people do think that way. Many, many people exploit this. – Badger Nov 03 '22 at 02:48
  • @crasic The publisher is a private entity, but copyright is not (usually) originated in the publisher, but in the author, which is NASA. – A. R. Nov 03 '22 at 12:53
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    @AndrewRay It's not as easy as saying the author is NASA because the original observation was likely ordered and configured by a non-Federal employed scientist, e.g. state or private university. Also, there's ESA instruments, ESA parts and ESA-sponsored observers. A further complication is JWST (and HST) isn't run by NASA, but by the non-governmental STScI under contract. (Similarly, JPL employees are not government employees, they're private Caltech). I think the public-domain nature is due to NASA policy and funding conditions, there's arguments against federal authorship. – user71659 Nov 03 '22 at 16:45