Is USA government data open according to the Open Definition?

Open Definition
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Over in the Open Data Index category, Nate asks about USA government open data and if it complies with the Open Definition.

I imagine this has been discussed in the past regarding submissions made to the Open Data Census. Can anyone assist @cosnate with his questions?

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I replied mentioning the proposed update for OD 2.1 to address public domain better.

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Wait, isn’t only the federal level in the US that has content and data automatically in the public domain? I think his question pertains only to state and local levels in the US (which may or may not be in the public domain).

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I’ll respond to the original question. Short version here:

  • No, state/local isn’t formally in the public domain like US federal data is; but
  • Under Feist it may often be unprotected by copyright anyway.
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