Works created by the federal government and their employees are public domain, but works created by a contractor are still copyrighted. The government typically

Works created by the federal government and their employees are public domain, but works created by a contractor are still copyrighted. The government typically gets the copyright assigned to them – or at least an unlimited license to use the work – as part of the contract (this is negotiable, and I've seen the government get screwed over a few times), but that doesn't make it public domain.