How does Copyright affect Satellite Imagery?

   Wim Bakker recently supplied the following article, in part a
   translation from a (Dutch) NLR article. I have taken the liberty of
   cutting it down somewhat.
   
   I understand the issue of copyright on satellite imagery may in fact
   vary significantly depending on what country you're in. Mark Goodman
   (Mark_Goodman@achre.gov) writing from a US point of view comments:
   
     I'm not sure that satellite imagery is covered by copyright law. It
     may depend on what country you're in. I believe that SPOT and EOSAT
     protect their intellectual property rights through trade secrets
     laws, and through restrictive sales contracts that prohibit
     redistribution of raw data, even for scientific use!
     
   Your mileage may vary!
   
  ) Copyright
  
   There is a lot of confusion about the copyright connected to the use
   of satellite images and everything related to this.
   
   According to Websters dictionary "copyright" is
    1. copy.right \-.r{i-}t\ n : the exclusive legal right to reproduce,
       publish, and sell the matter and form of a literary, musical, or
       artistic work - copyright aj
    2. copyright vt : to secure a copyright on
       
   In 1886, during the Convention of Bern the matter of copyright was
   regulated internationally. It states that the author (creator) of a
   certain matter remains the owner of his product. This also means that
   if you buy a copyrighted product you pay for the _use_ of this product
   and you can never claim to be the owner of such a product.
   Furthermore, you can never claim any other rights about such a product
   (e.g. the right to _reproduce_ the product).
   
   In copyright the following 5 stages can be distinguished:
    1. the _creation_ of a product
    2. the _manufacturing_ of a product
    3. the _distribution_ of a product
    4. the _use_ of a product
    5. the _reproduction_ of a product
       
   These 5 points can also be distinguished with the use of satellite
   images. Two operational Earth observing satellites will be described
   here: Landsat and SPOT.
   
   _Here I have cut a detailed description of Landsat and SPOT
   distribution, as being (IMHO) too detailed for this FAQ - NK._
   
   Now when does the copyright principle touch the user?
   Only when the user reproduces or copies (point 5) the satellite images
   is he affected by the copyright issue. At all times the user must be
   aware of the owner/producer of the data. The owner/producer may or may
   not permit the reproduction of the datas, but must in any case be
   mentioned on all publications of satellite images!
   _Note: the following details may vary in different parts of the world,
   although the principles apply in any case._
   For SPOT data this will be CNES; for Landsat data received by European
   ground stations this will be ESA; and for Landsat data from America
   this will be EOSAT (or NOAA and EROS Data Center (EDC) for old data).
   
   The owner/producer indicates which reproductions are allowed. The
   reproduction of raw data - copying CCT's and film - is _never_ allowed
   and for other categories that are allowed the owner will ask for a
   certain contribution for the right to reproduce the data; this is
   called the _reproduction fee_.
   
   The following reproductions are free of reproduction fee
     * Posters, slides, advertisement or publications used for
       conferences, meetings, symposiums and exhibitions in the field of
       Remote Sensing.
     * Technical reports of RS conferences, symposiums etc.
     * Scientific reports and papers
       
   For the following, a reproduction fee is due:
     * Newspapers
     * Magazines
     * Brochures
     * Books _not_ related to the field of RS
     * Posters, either ones that are sold as well as free copies
     * Calendars
     * Atlasses
     * Postcards and invitations
     * Using images on TV and video
       
   At all times the owner/producer must be mentioned on the
   reproductions, even if no reproduction fee is due!
   This can be done in two ways
    1. To use the word _copyright_ followed by the owner/producer and the
       year of production. E.g.
       Copyright ESA 1988
    2. To use the international sign for copyright _)_ followed by the
       owner/producer and the year of production. E.g.
       ) CNES/NLR 1994
       In the last example the NLR could have processed data from SPOT.
       
    Conclusion
    
     * For some (scientific) applications you owe no _reproduction fee_.
     * At all times the owner/producer must be mentioned on reproductions
       using the word _copyright_ or the sign _)_
     * In case of doubt, ask your distributor!