Copyright for government use is key. Otherwise, it spills over and collapses the entire SDO industry.

International Code Council, “Save Lives: Protect Copyright for National Standards” International Code Council, https://www.iccsafe.org/wp-content/uploads/22-21164_COMM_Brand_Copyright_Fact_Sheet_FLR_v1_MIDRES.pdf

*date obtained with carbon dating the internet

Governments at all levels consider some privately developed standards so valuable that they adopt or incorporate them by reference in the legislative or regulatory process.

Some special interests wrongly argue that this action – a clear public benefit – forfeits copyright protection for the entire standard.

As a result of the special interests’ concerted litigation activity, some rulings from lower federal courts have started to call SDOs’ copyrights into question. Notwithstanding the immense public benefits and the strong Congressional policy preferring private, consensus-based standards development, these rulings have suggested standards may lose the benefit of copyright protection when adopted or incorporated by reference.

Extinguishing the copyright for a standard adopted or incorporated by reference will make it impossible for SDOs to sell copies of their standards to the professionals who use them, effectively dismantling the private standards development system.

There are no alternatives anywhere as effective or efficient as the current system.

The Solution: Make the Copyright Laws Unmistakably Clear that Adoption/Incorporation by Reference Does Not Destroy Copyright for Freely Accessible Standards

Congress should pass a statute making clear that a standard does not lose its copyright protection by virtue of having been adopted or incorporated by reference into law or regulation, provided that the standard is available for free viewing on a publicly accessible website. This solution allows citizens to know what the law is without having to pay for it, while still preserving the efficient and effective SDO system — an important public service — at no cost to the taxpayer.