MedlinePlus contains both non-copyrighted and copyrighted material. Restrictions may apply when linking to copyrighted materials. For information on linking to MedlinePlus pages, please see our policy on linking to MedlinePlus.

Which pages are NOT copyrighted?

• Works produced by federal government employees as part of their official duties are not copyrighted under U.S. law. MedlinePlus pages that are not copyrighted include:
  
  
  • the homepage (http://medlineplus.gov/)
  • the summaries on the Health Topics pages
  • the tour (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tour/tour.html)
  • the FAQs (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/faq/faq.html)
  • the same pages on MedlinePlus en español (http://medlineplus.gov/spanish/)

What does it mean if a page is not copyrighted?

• It means that you may reproduce and redistribute this page. You may also link to the page. For more information, please see our policy on linking to MedlinePlus.

Which pages ARE copyrighted?

• Works produced by organizations other than the federal government may be protected by U.S. and international copyright laws.  MedlinePlus pages that are copyrighted include:
  
  
  • the A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html)
    
  • drug information from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html)
  • herbal medicine and supplement information from Natural Standard (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html)
  • news stories from HealthDay and Reuters (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/newsbydate.html)
  • interactive health tutorials from the Patient Education Institute (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorial.html)
  • the Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mplusdictionary.html)
  • surgery videos from OR-Live (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/surgeryvideos.html)
  • Find a Hospital from the American Hospital Association (http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/directories/index.cfm)
  • maps and driving directions from MapQuest on the Find a Hospital pages
  • illustrations, logos, and photos
  • pages from non U.S. government web sites. These pages appear as links on Health Topics pages. Examples include pages from the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Heart Association, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, etc.
    
    
• You can sometimes tell if something is copyrighted if it has the copyright symbol, the name of the copyright holder, and the statement "All rights reserved." For example:

© 1998-2004 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved.

However, a copyright notice is not required by law and therefore not all copyrighted material is necessarily marked in this way.

What does it mean if something IS copyrighted?

• If a page is copyrighted, transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use (PDF) as defined in the copyright laws may require the written permission of the copyright owners. MedlinePlus cannot grant this permission.

Whom do I contact to request permission to use copyrighted material?

• You need to contact the copyright holder. Contact information for copyright holders of licensed content on MedlinePlus is listed below.
  
  
• Medical Encyclopedia
  • A.D.A.M., Inc.: sales@adamcorp.com
    
    
• Interactive Health Tutorials
  • Patient Education Institute: http://www.patient-education.com/contact.asp
    
    
• Surgery Videos
  • OR-Live: http://www.or-live.com/contact.cfm
    
    
• Drug and Supplement Information
  • American Society of Health-System Pharmacists: custserv@ashp.org
  • Natural Standard: questions@naturalstandard.com
    
    
• News sources
  • HealthDay: http://www.healthday.com/aboutus/aboutus1.htm
  • Reuters: http://www.reutershealth.com/en/index.html
    
    
• Medical Dictionary
  • Merriam-Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/contact.htm
    
    
• Find a Hospital
  • American Hospital Association: http://www.aha.org/aha/member-center/contact-us.html
    
    
• Images
  • Images on Health Topic pages attributed to A.D.A.M.: sales@adamcorp.com
  • Images on Health Topic pages attributed to government agencies: consult the agency specified for the original image.
  • Images on Health Topic pages with no attribution: these are stock images licensed expressly for MedlinePlus, you may not reproduce or redistribute these images.
    
    
• For information from other web sites, you will need to contact those sources.

Can I frame MedlinePlus pages?

• Because MedlinePlus includes copyrighted, licensed text and images, framing is not authorized by NLM. For more information, see our framing FAQ.