Court denies state legal code copyright

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday against the state of Georgia in a copyright lawsuit over annotations to its legal code, finding they cannot be copyrighted.

The 5-4 ruling upholds a previous appeals court decision. “The Copyright Act grants potent, decadeslong monopoly protection for ‘original works of authorship.’ … The question in this case is whether that protection extends to the annotations contained in Georgia’s official annotated code. We hold that it does not,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts.

Roberts said the question to ask is “whether the author of the work is a judge or a legislator,” because “whatever work that judge or legislator produces in the course of his judicial or legislative duties is not copyrightable.”

Justice Clarence Thomas, a Georgia native, dissented, writing under court precedents “that statutes and regulations cannot be copyrighted, but accompanying notes lacking legal force can be.”

The case involved a dispute between Georgia and Public.Resource.Org Inc., a nonprofit run by Carl Malamud, an internet public domain advocate who argues for free access to legally obtained files.

The nonprofit distributed and made available online copies of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. The state sued in July 2015, arguing the annotations include analysis and guidance added by a third-party publisher and are protected by copyright.

(AP/Charles Rex Arbogast) People in Chicago’s Grant Park on Monday take advantage of a break in the cold, damp weather the city has recently experienced.