Supreme Court Rules Copyright Does Not Extend To Annotations In A State’s Official Annotated Code

On April 27, 2020, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org (available here). The Court found that Georgia could not copyright, via a third-party contractor under a work-for-hire agreement, the official version of its annotated code. Under the so-called “government edicts doctrine,” the “officials empowered to speak with the force of law cannot be the authors of—and therefore cannot copyright—the works they create in the course of their official duties.” Accordingly, “[b]ecause Georgia’s annotation are authored by an arm of the legislature in the course of its legislative duties, the government edits doctrine puts them outside the reach of copyright protection.”   

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