"Congress Wants To Put The Law Behind A Paywall.
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"Congress Wants To Put The Law Behind A Paywall. Again."
https://www.techdirt.com/2026/04/06/congress-wants-to-put-the-law-behind-a-paywall-again/"Every relevant court that has looked at this question — including the Supreme Court — has agreed: no one can own the law. When private standards get incorporated into binding legal requirements, the public has a right to access them freely…So naturally, a bipartisan group of senators has reintroduced a bill to override all of that. Senators Coons, Cornyn, Hirono, and Tillis have brought back the Pro Codes Act, a bill that would grant copyright protection to standards that have been incorporated by reference into law."
#Copyright #Enclosure #Law #Paywalls #SCOTUS #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
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"Congress Wants To Put The Law Behind A Paywall. Again."
https://www.techdirt.com/2026/04/06/congress-wants-to-put-the-law-behind-a-paywall-again/"Every relevant court that has looked at this question — including the Supreme Court — has agreed: no one can own the law. When private standards get incorporated into binding legal requirements, the public has a right to access them freely…So naturally, a bipartisan group of senators has reintroduced a bill to override all of that. Senators Coons, Cornyn, Hirono, and Tillis have brought back the Pro Codes Act, a bill that would grant copyright protection to standards that have been incorporated by reference into law."
#Copyright #Enclosure #Law #Paywalls #SCOTUS #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
Update. While some Senators want the US to go backwards on the principle that the public should have free access to public law, yesterday's decision by the EU Court of Justice moved the EU forwards.
"If an EU directive…refers to international standards, individuals must be able to consult them…[The legally regulated maximum levels of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide in EU cigarettes] have not been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. In its judgment, the Court of Justice confirms that the [Dutch plaintiff] must be able to verify whether cigarettes comply with the emission levels…Such access must be free, that is to say, it must be general, effective, without charge and non-discriminatory."
https://curia.europa.eu/site/upload/docs/application/pdf/2026-04/cp260060en.pdf -
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