On May 4, Vermont enacted its first statutory Code of Ethics. The Code will take effect July 1, 2022, and applies to all public servants[1] in Vermont. The Code identifies baseline ethics rules regarding gifts to public...more
In Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, decided by the Supreme Court on April 27, the principle at stake was whether, under the copyright law, a state legislature can have the rights of an “author” in publishing an annotated...more
Following up on an earlier blog post about the State of Georgia’s ability to copyright the annotations to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (“OCGA”), the U.S. Supreme Court finally weighed in last month...more
On April 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the annotations found in Georgia’s official state law code—Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA)—are ineligible for copyright protection. Georgia et...more
The law – judicial opinions, statutes, and regulations – cannot be copyrighted. In Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., No.18-1150 (April 21, 2020), the US Supreme Court was presented with the question whether annotations,...more
In Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org Inc., in a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court held that an annotated version of Georgia’s official state law code was not copyrightable and rejected a claim for copyright infringement that Georgia...more
On April 27, the Supreme Court took us on a stroll down memory lane in its decision in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., referring us back to its very first copyright case and revisiting the government edicts doctrine for...more
Last week, the Supreme Court held in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., that legislators cannot copyright any works that they created in the course of their official duties. Though the holding may appear straightforward...more
On April 27, 2020, the United States Supreme Court held that annotations in the State of Georgia’s official codes are not eligible for copyright protection. The 5-4 decision marked the first time in over a century that the...more
Revisiting the government edicts doctrine for the first time in more than a century, the U.S. Supreme Court in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., No. 18–1150, 590 U.S. ___ (2020), split 5-4 to hold that annotations to...more
On April 27, 2020, the United States Supreme Court held, in Georgia et al. v. Public.Resource.Org., Inc., in a 5-4 decision, that copyright law does not protect annotations contained in the official annotated compilation of...more
The US Supreme Court ruled that state governments may not copyright annotated versions of their state’s legal code, saying that as a government edict, such information must be freely available to the public. The Court’s 5-4...more
The Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision on April 27, 2020, in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, upholding the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling that the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) is not entitled to copyright protection....more
In a split decision, the Supreme Court of the United States in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. affirmed a previous ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and held that annotations to the Official Code of...more
On April 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court extended limits on the states’ ability to claim copyright protection over legislative materials and, specifically, over explanatory annotations added to legislative materials. The...more
On April 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 590 U.S. ____, that pursuant to the “government edicts” doctrine, annotations to Georgia’s state code could not be...more
A divided Supreme Court has held that works authored by legislatures or legislators in their legislative capacity are ineligible for copyright protection (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc.). The Copyright Act protects...more
On April 27, 2020, the Supreme Court held that annotations to legislative text, even if created by a private contracted party, are not copyrightable materials under 17 U.S.C. §101. Invoking the government edicts doctrine, the...more
In a 5-4 decision with the majority opinion delivered by Chief Justice Roberts, the Supreme Court held that copyright protection does not extend to annotations in Georgia’s official annotated code. The Code Revision Committee...more
On April 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision authored by Chief Justice Roberts that copyright protection does not extend to the annotations in Georgia’s official annotated code. In the case, Georgia v....more
GEORGIA ET AL. V. PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG, INC., CASE NO. 18-1150 (S. CT.), 590 U.S. ______ (APRIL 27, 2020). The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected the State of Georgia’s attempt to assert copyright in the Official Code of...more
On April 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., holding that the annotations to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated are not eligible for copyright protection because the annotations...more