That isn't a NASA policy, that is the law about works by government employees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government ht

That isn't a NASA policy, that is the law about works by government employees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_th... This is actually reflected in the copyright agreements at every major journal. See, for instance, Form B at the ACS journals. http://pubs.acs.org/page/copyright/journals/index.html http://pubs.acs.org/page/copyright/journals/index.html The difference is in whom the employer is. If you are employed by a university doing work on a government grant, you are not a federal employee, so the work is copyrighted.