I remember the CIA World Factbook in the library of my elementary school. It seemed strange back then. Here was the CIA, the most secret agency of the United States government (no one in the 1980s, at least at my elementary school, was allowed to know about the NSA's existence), and they had published a book filled with information they'd collected. Looking over it in the school library, you had to wonder if it was your patriotic duty to close your eyes for the assessment of the Soviet Union.
Today, the CIA World Factbook is on the web, and it is a great source of public domain material. And in terms of images, it can be a goto source for public domain flags and maps.
Take a look at the page on the Czech Republic. There's maps, the flag, and 20 photos for you to use. There's also public-domain text about the country.
Especially helpful, the folks at the CIA have highlighted in plain language the public-domain status of the works.
If a copyright is indicated on a photo, graphic, or any other material, permission to copy these materials must be obtained from the original source.
Unless a copyright is indicated, information on the Central Intelligence Agency Web site is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published or otherwise used without the Central Intelligence Agency's permission. We request only that the Central Intelligence Agency be cited as the source of the information and that any photo credits or bylines be similarly credited to the photographer or author or Central Intelligence Agency, as appropriate.
Here's a graphic that I made to illustrate a blog post about Peru. I assembled it from a map and flag image, both of which are from the CIA World Factbook.
I know what you're thinking. If I've gotten information from the CIA, then isn't it my patriotic duty to keep it on the downlow where I got it from? No, apparently the CIA would appreciate the photo credit. You don't have to give it to them. But it would be nice. And hey, if the World Factbook is the only contribution to democracy that the CIA's made lately that they can publicly take credit for, why deny it to them?
Comments