Well, if you are trying to weasel out of paying for a copyright, there is a new way to do it: get the material referenced in a law, or better yet have the material become the law.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a Fifth Circuit decision that basically says: if your standard or code is referenced in a law, then is becomes uncopyrightable, even if it was copyrightable before it was in the law.
For a better summary with more explanation, read Peter Veeck’s summary.
Posted by arfore at July 9, 2003 08:37 AM