In essence, once a standard is included by reference into a law, does that standard becomes public domain. As we discussed with the NFPA and IFC fire codes incorporated by reference into the carbon monoxide detector code, it should.
Public.resource.org wins appeal on right to publish the law [pdf] (uscourts.gov)
Ever operated a tank barge and wondered what power source you would need for your cargo tank’s liquid overfill protection system to comply with the law? Probably not. But if you did, you might consider thumbing through the Code of Federal Regulations, where you would discover that one option is to hook up to an off-barge facility, provided that your system has “a 120-volt, 20-ampere explosion-proof plug that meets . . . NFPA 70, Articles 406.9 and 501-145.” 46 C.F.R. § 39.2009(a)(1)(iii)(B). Dig deeper and you would learn that NFPA 70 is not some obscure rule or regulation or agency guidance document but is instead another name for the “National Electrical Code,” a multi-chapter technical standard prepared by the National Fire Protection Association (the eponymous “NFPA”), detailing best practices for “electrical installations.” Complaint ¶ 66, American Society for Testing & Materials v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. (ASTM), No. 1:13-cv-01215 (D.D.C. Aug. 6, 2013) (“ASTM Compl.”), Dkt. No. 1, Joint Appendix (J.A.) 86. Parts of NFPA 70 have been incorporated into the statutes or regulations of at least forty-seven states and, as we have just seen, the federal government. American Insurance Ass’n Amicus Br. 5.
A bunch of good comments:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17579742
And a good summary of the issue:
http://www.dailyreportingsuite.com/ip/news/IPLD20180718
Underlying dispute. The district court had addressed motions and cross-motions for summary judgment brought in two separate but related cases brought by SDOs against Public Resource. In one case, the American Society for Testing and Materials (“ASTM”), National Fire Protection Association, Inc. (“NFPA”), and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (“ASHRAE”) (collectively “ASTM Plaintiffs”), sued Public Resource for both copyright and trademark infringement, based on Public Resource’s copying and dissemination of 257 standards developed by the ASTM plaintiffs that have been incorporated by reference into federal law. Public Resource admitted that it purchased hard copies of each standard, scanned them into PDFs, added a cover sheet, and posted them online. Public Resource also retyped the plaintiffs’ standards and posted them online. The summary judgment motion related to nine of the allegedly infringed standards.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/07/17/appeals_court_copyright_fair_use/
Y’know… Publishing tech specs may be fair use, says appeals court
Expect this one to be argued all the way to the Supremes
In a victory for those supporting open access to technical specifications, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday vacated injunctions [PDF] that prohibited Public.Resource.Org (PRO) from publishing copyrighted technical standards online.
