Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc.

The State of Georgia sued Public.Resource.Org (PRO), a nonprofit founded by open law advocate Carl Malamud, for copyright infringement after PRO posted the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) online for free. The OCGA includes statutory text and non-binding annotations summarizing judicial opinions and attorney general opinions, prepared by LexisNexis under a work-for-hire agreement with the Georgia Code Revision Commission. The district court sided with Georgia, but the Eleventh Circuit reversed, holding the annotations were government edicts in the public domain. The Supreme Court affirmed in a 5-4 decision on April 27, 2020.

The Supreme Court affirmed the Eleventh Circuit's decision in a 5-4 ruling. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, held that the OCGA annotations are ineligible for copyright protection under the government edicts doctrine because they were authored by an arm of the Georgia Legislature in the course of its legislative duties. The Court emphasized the principle that "no one can own the law." Justices Thomas, Alito, Ginsburg, and Breyer dissented.

Whether the government edicts doctrine renders the annotations in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated ineligible for copyright protection, and whether the doctrine applies to non-binding explanatory legal materials created by a legislative body rather than solely to works carrying the force of law.

The decision was celebrated as a major victory for open access advocates, affirming that the law and its ancillary texts belong in the public domain. It expanded the government edicts doctrine to cover virtually all official statements by judges or legislative bodies. The ruling affected how states publish their official codes and contract with private companies, with an estimated 22 states and Washington, D.C. relying on similar arrangements. Critics expressed concern that states might stop producing annotated codes altogether, and questions remained about its application to privately developed standards incorporated by reference into law.