The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Georgia could not copyright its state code that includes annotations. Twenty other states have tried to copyright their annotated codes, but Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion that the annotations provided important information about the law needed for citizens to fully learn their rights and duties. (The New York Times, April 27, 2020, by Adam Liptak)
Georgia had sued the nonprofit Public.Resource.Org for publishing the annotated Georgia code online. The annotations provide such information as summaries of judicial opinions, legislative history and citations to law review articles. (Ars Technica, April 27, 2020, by Timothy B. Lee)
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