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Is this legal?

It seems that in the age of copy machines, scanners, and fax machines, many people have been taught that reproduction of anything without the author's consent is against the law. Although this is true for materials produced by private parties, it does not apply to U.S. Government publications.

The only exception applies to works of private parties that the Government has been granted permission to reproduce.

In short, there is no copyright on NOS aeronautical charts or USGS maps. Here's a link from the USGS stating that their maps are freely distributable: http://mcmcweb.er.usgs.gov/drg/avail.html

The following was taken from Title 17 of the U.S. code (copyright laws):

§ 105. Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works
Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government, but the United States Government is not precluded from receiving and holding copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest, or otherwise.

These laws are available online at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/title17/.

Note: Please do not take this out of context. We are not attorneys and this should not be considered legal advice. We are only referring to NOS charts and USGS maps.