Generally speaking, data will not be copyrighted and will be freely distributable to 3rd parties. You can usually even resell their data. Data from Private Companies Generally speaking, private companies specialize in a producing one kind of data product, such as satellite imagery, aerial photography, or roads. Or they are resellers of several kinds of data products that are produced by a combination of private companies and governemnt agencies. The cost of data from private companies ranges from inexpensive to very expensive.
Prices are market driven.
The area of interest for which private companies provide data is often nation-wide or for key large markets, such as major US cities. Data is usually available in a variety of formats and projections. Data is almost always copyrighted and not freely distributable. Probably the world's largest collection of GIS data. Free downloading of a huge amount of data around the world.