Ghostwriters and State Legislatures: Copyright and Access to the Law

Ghostwriters and State Legislatures: Copyright and Access to the Law

Journal article

1 online resource

Who actually writes the laws? While it is generally the state or federal legislature's job to write laws, it is often private interests and organizations who are really ghostwriting our laws. According to one study, between the years 2010-2018, over 10,000 bills introduced by state legislatures were almost entirely copied from bills written by special interests, and more than 2,100 have been introduced into law. In one area of legislation, this practice is the norm, rather than the exception: building and safety codes. These codes are written by Standards Developing Organizations (“SDOs”), which are non-profit organizations consisting of industry experts and government officials. SDOs draft model codes based in sound engineering principles to regulate such varied industries as construction, fire safety, medical testing, consumer products, and aviation.

Crossref

AIPLA Quarterly Journal, Summer 2024, Volume 52, Issue 3, p. 597.

[New York, NY] : Thomson Reuters, 2024.

English

https://1.next.westlaw.com/Copyright

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