[tz] NIST leap-second file not yet updated

[Paul_Koning at dell.com]

> On Feb 18, 2016, at 10:04 AM, Martin Burnicki <martin.burnicki at meinberg.de> wrote:
> 
> Clive D.W. Feather wrote:
>> Martin Burnicki said:
>>> Hm, I've just had a look at the current file once more:
>>> https://hpiers.obspm.fr/iers/bul/bulc/ntp/leap-seconds.list
>>> 
>>> I don't see any copyright statement at all in it, nor in the directory
>>> containing the file.
>> 
>> Irrelevant. Copyright exists and can't be made not to exist.
> 
> Yes, I know this. I just wondered where the difference comes from that
> the IERS file is considered to be copyrighted in the sense that it may
> not be copied or redistributed, while the NIS file is considered to be
> in the public domain, even though neither of the files contains a
> correspondent statement.

No.  In the USA, the work of federal agencies is in the public domain by law.  But in this case, the NIST version is a "derived work", so the public domain rule applies only to the portion that was created by NIST, not the portion that was taken from other sources.  For the latter, as with any other derived work, the copyright that applies is that of the original author (or rather, owner) of that portion.  And that would be IERS, presumably.

	paul