Ga. Case Could Decide Whether State Law Is In Public Domain

The company filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta. The suit is against another research service, Casemaker, that has exclusive rights to Georgia’s Rules and Regulations through an agreement with the state.

According to Massachusetts attorney Bob Ambrogi, the case could have an impact outside of Georgia, since many states have these kinds of agreements with publishers.

“For years the publishing of legal materials has been controlled by private publishers,” Ambrogi said. “So what this will do, if Fastcase is successful, is open the floodgates in terms of making all of the law freely available online.”

Currently, Ambrogi said, it can be expensive for the average person to access legal materials.

Last July, the state of Georgia sued a public records advocate for publishing the state’s annotated legal code online, arguing it was a violation of intellectual property.