The Pro Codes Act of 2026 protects the copyright of technical standards incorporated into law, provided that the developing organizations make those standards freely and publicly accessible online.
Christopher Coons
Senator
DE
The Pro Codes Act of 2026 protects the copyright of technical standards incorporated into law, ensuring that standards development organizations can continue to fund their work. In exchange for this protection, the Act requires these organizations to provide the public with free, searchable online access to the specific standards referenced in government regulations.
Pro Codes Act of 2026: Private Standards Stay Copyrighted if Made Free to View Online
Imagine you’re a local contractor trying to follow the building code, or a small business owner checking safety regulations for your shop. You look up the law, only to find it references a 'technical standard' that costs $200 to download from a private company. The Pro Codes Act of 2026 aims to fix this paywall problem, but it comes with a significant catch. The bill allows private organizations to keep their copyright—and their ability to sell copies—as long as they provide a free, searchable version of those rules on a public website. It’s a move to balance the business model of these 'Standards Development Organizations' (SDOs) with your right to know the laws you have to follow.
The Digital Library of Laws
Under Section 3, if a government agency decides to bake a private technical standard into the law (a process called 'incorporation by reference'), the organization that wrote it doesn't lose its copyright. To keep that legal protection, however, they must make the specific parts of the standard used in the law 'publicly accessible online' at no cost. This means you shouldn’t have to pull out a credit card just to read the rules governing your industry. The bill requires these online versions to be searchable and include a table of contents, making it easier for a busy electrician or a curious homeowner to find exactly what they need without scrolling through hundreds of pages of PDF text.
The 'Free' Account Trade-Off
While the access is 'free,' the bill explicitly states that organizations can require you to create a user account to see the standards. For the average person, this is a bit of a 'read the fine print' moment. While the bill says your personal info can't be used without consent, requiring an account creates a digital gatekeeper between you and the law. If you’re a researcher or a citizen advocate who doesn’t want to hand over an email address just to read a regulation, this provision might feel like a step backward from true public access. It’s the difference between walking into a public library and having to sign a registry at a private club just to look at the books.
Proving the Paywall
One of the more technical but vital parts of this bill involves what happens in court. If a company stops providing that free access but continues to sue people for copyright infringement, the 'burden of proof' is on the public. This means if you claim an organization isn't following the rules for free access, you have to prove they failed, rather than the organization having to prove they complied. For a small business or an individual, taking on a large standards organization in court to prove their website was broken or inaccessible is a tall and expensive order. While the bill ensures you can read the law for free today, it makes it harder for regular folks to hold these organizations accountable if that access disappears tomorrow.