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[dragosh]

I am looking to create an iphone app and would like to know if I can take a pdf from a  US government website and display it, without any alterations, in the application.  I am fairly certain that the document has no outside produced material and was created in house by the agency. 

I know that most government documents have no copyright, but I would like to in this case to take the document and publish it exactly as it is on the agency's website. 

Will I be violating copyright?

Thanks

[Isaac]

I am fairly certain that the document has no outside produced material and was created in house by the agency.

If the document was created in house and includes no material created by a contractor, then the government cannot own a copyright in the document.  I don't know how sure you can be that these criteria have been met unless the government acknowledges that there is no copyright protection.  The government can own copyrights in material created by others and transfered to the gov't.