Accessibility of United States state law

In the United States, some state governments and legal publishers claim copyright of public laws or certain publications of public laws. It has long been established that edicts of government are not to be subject to copyright protection in the U.S., but copyright protection for the selection and arrangement of published law may remain possible, at least in some jurisdictions. The primary incentive for state governments is the ability to charge for copies of the law or legal annotations. This is a list of the hindrances to accessibility, copyright or otherwise, on the legal codes of U.S. states.

In July 2015, Georgia sued activist Carl Malamud of Public.Resource.org for distributing "The Official Code of Georgia Annotated," asserting copyright over the laws.

In April 2008, Oregon asked Justia to remove copies of the Oregon code from its website, citing that the particular publication of the law, as distinguished by features like introductory paragraphs and page numbers, was copyrighted. Following negative media attention, the state issued a special waiver promising not to enforce the copyright against Justia or Public.Resource.org, but did not change its policies regarding the accessibility of its laws to others.

"The Code of Alabama 1975© The State of Alabama 2001 is updated on the ALISON site only after any supplements have been published" Code: Michie's Alabama Code; Publisher: LexisNexis; Claim: acas/ACASLoginFire.asp copyright 2006 by Matthew Bender Code: Alaska Statutes; Publisher: LexisNexis; Claim: copyright 19662, 1968…2006 by the State of Alaska Code: Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated; Publisher: West Group; Claim: copyright 2001 by West Group Code: Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official Edition; Publisher: Michie Company; Claim: copyright 1987, 1992 by the State of Arkansas Code: Deering's California Codes; Publisher: LexisNexis; Claim: copyright 2007 by Matthew Bender

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