[lixtra]

Isn't it a copyright infringement to pick up some radio signal, reassemble it to pictures and publish them?

[followben]

Both Longjiang satellites carry a VHF/UHF amateur radio transceiver built and operated by the Harbin Institute of Technology in China. They've open sourced software specifically so radio amateurs can decode telemetry as well as image data: https://github.com/bg2bhc/gr-dslwp

[jandrese]

Depends on the wishes of the people who originated the signal. There are plenty of OTA signals that are free to the public, like NOAA weather satellite data. They're paid for by the public and are in the public domain. I don't know specifically about these signals, but it seems like the Chinese government is pretty open with them as well.

[na85]

Written with tongue only half in cheek:

Depends. In the US where media companies write copyright law and hand it to legislators, yes. In China where there appears to be no Rule of Law, no.