[PapaBear3625]

If the taxpayers paid for the research, then the resulting report is work for hire, and the taxpayers own the copyright. The copyright office says "If a work is a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is the initial owner of the copyright unless there has been a written agreement to the contrary signed by both parties."

[nitzy]

I think the more ridiculous part is that the authors of the article give away the article to the medical journals while receiving no payment. Regardless if the research is funded by taxpayers or private industry, the authors make no money on the scientific literature describing the research. They do it for the professional recognition and the advancement of knowledge regarding the subject. The publishing journals then claim ownership and charge you $20 to read an article about research that you funded and the researcher who did the work has given away.