NSA Using Copyright Claims to Crush Free Speech?
benswann.com
benswann.com
You cannot use U.S. government trademarks or the logos of U.S. government agencies without permission. For example, you cannot use an agency logo or trademark on your social media page. [0]
In other words, the article's line of speculation, including its title (note the question mark), is obviously incorrect, but it can be made sound merely by substituting "IP" or "trademark" for "copyright". The article would otherwise read substantially the same, as parody is likewise a defense to trademark infringement on First Amendment grounds, just as it is in copyright cases. (The standard is higher for a successful free-speech defense of trademark infringement, though).
0. http://www.usa.gov/copyright.shtml ; this claim isn't entirely correct. Legal protections of government trademarks are mostly limited to uses which could cause confusion about an agency's position or endorsement of a statement or product. Use of logos of a federal agencies in some other common ways is legal. (Think t-shirts emblazoned with the letters "FBI".)
Certain works, particularly logos and emblems of government agencies, while not copyrightable, are still protected by other laws similar in effect to trademark laws. Such laws are intended to protect indicators of source or quality. For example, some uses of the Central Intelligence Agency logo, name, and initialism are regulated under the CIA Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. § 403m).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the...
I was curious based on the initial headline, because in general, under US law, things created by the federal government are not under copyright. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the...
Although things created by contractors might be.
Anyhow, the takedown letter, as usual for this sort of thing, is very vague about exactly what 'intellectual property rights' the complainer holds are being violated, making it even harder to judge if their complaint is justified. At least as quoted in the OP. Who knows.