It would spillover over to a wide variety of other laws.
McSherry 22 – Legal Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, J.D. from Stanford University.
Corynne McSherry, “The Pro Codes Act Is a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, 03-28-2022, https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/pro-codes-act-wolf-sheeps-clothing
The Pro Codes Act would effectively, and sneakily, bless the SDOs’ copyright theory by suggesting that they can indeed “retain” copyright in codes, even after they are made law, as long as they make the codes available through a “publicly accessible” website.
There are many problems with this approach. First, lobbyists (who often draft laws which are then enacted by legislatures) could make the same claim, placing any number of laws in private hands. Second, the many volunteers who develop those codes neither need nor want a copyright incentive. Third, it’s unconstitutional under the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee the public’s right to read, share and discuss the laws by which we govern ourselves.