Georgia Ruling Leaves States and Contractors in an Awkward Position

On April 27, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Georgia v. Public.Resource.org, ruling that states and legislators cannot own the copyright to any works produced during their term as lawmakers. In 2013, the state of Georgia sued nonprofit PublicResource.org for posting its annotated state codes online. The state contracted LexisNexis to produce the annotations and license the copyright in exchange for royalties. However, Public Resource argued that the codes were in the public domain. World Intellectual Property Review contacted Finnegan partner Brett Heavner for his thoughts on the ruling.

Brett said, “The decision is likely to undermine the system that half of all U.S. states use to create commentary and annotations on their legal codes.” However, he said the majority’s decision still leaves open the possibility for states to claim copyright on their annotated codes if they have a different arrangement with the private firms preparing the commentary. “That arrangement would need to mirror more closely the facts that allow private reporters to retain copyright in their commentary and annotation on judicial decisions. There is also a question of legislative control—if the legislature did not exercise such strict control over the creation of the commentary, would there be an opportunity for the commentary to be protected by copyright?”

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