From an announcement from the EFF this week:
Technical standards such as fire and electrical codes developed by private organizations but incorporated into public law can be freely distributed without liability for copyright infringement, a federal appeals court has ruled . ruled Tuesday.
The judge ruled that publishing the materials constituted fair use: the nonprofit group making the publication would therefore not be liable for copyright infringement. THE Journal of the American Bar Association reports:
This decision is a victory for public defender Carl Malamud and the group he founded, Public.Resource.org. The group publishes legal documents on its websites, including the standards developed by the three organizations being sued… “It has been more than 10 years since the plaintiffs filed suit in this case,” Malamud said in a press release from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “The United States Court of Appeals ruled decisively in favor of the proposition according to which citizens should not be relegated to access to the right in economy class. “
In 2012 Carl Malamud answered questions from Slashdot readers.
And now, finally, from the EFF announcement:
Tuesday’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit supports the idea that our laws belong to all of us and that we should be able to find, read and read them. share without any registration obligation. fees and other obstacles… “In a nation governed by the rule of law, private parties do not have to control who can read, share and express the rules to which we are all subject,” said the legal director of the EFF, Corynne McSherry. “We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has confirmed what other American courts, including the Supreme Court, have said for nearly 200 years: no one should control access to the law.”
Or, as the EFF puts it on another page“Copyright cannot override the essential public interest…”
Thanks to long-time reader Slashdot schwitt1 to share the news.
