Copyright squashed on Oregon laws · 25 June 08
Oregon’s legislative council committee voted yesterday not to claim copyright over the state’s laws, ending a legal skirmish with web sites Justia and Public.Resource.Org. As it turns out, the decision may also cost the public till a few bucks. The committee’s decision came five days after the Register Guard published this story, which notes “ ... state law requires that legislative counsel charge to recoup the costs of publishing the statutes — set at $390 for a printed set and $30,000 for the electronic version. The latter sum has been paid by companies such as Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw, which in turn provide searchable databases and charge clients a subscription for their use.” Public.Resource.Org has posted video of the committee meeting online.
Lee van der Voo