The code and the law
Ernie points out an issue which is a perennial sore point for me: claims by organizations such as BOCA International, Inc. and the Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc., developers of the codes governing many aspects of construction, that their creations are protected by copyright and that they should be able to put a price on any copies that are sold. My view is that any adoption by reference of these codes, as is done in many states, including Michigan, and the adoption of the BOCA code by most Michigan counties which have enacted their own codes and thereby opted out of the statewide default system, automatically waives any copyright protection which might otherwise exist. The Fifth Circuit agrees. (Thanks to Sardonic Views for the link.)
All public laws are in the public domain (in my opinion) and freely distributable to the public, and any incorporation by reference in any statute, regulation, or ordinance brings the previously private and copyrightable work into the public domain. Both BOCA and SBCCI, which encourage the wholesale adoption of their codes into locally- and state-enacted building codes, have acquiesced in that plan by actively promoting it.
9:28:05 PM 
|
|
