More Free and Open Source Law Resources

By Kristopher Nelson in the Spring of 2008

Concurring Opinions – More Free and Open Source Law Resources:

Law.com has a good summary of the way projects seeking to make opinions, statutes, and other legal materials free. The history of these efforts goes back to the early 90s, but the recent changes may the ones to threaten the big shots. According to the article Public Resource now offers “virtually all of the Federal Reporter second and third series, said to be the equivalent of 1,858 volumes of case law.” The link to the courts resource seems broken (kept displaying directory page) but assuming it will work just as the other services on Public.Resource do (Smithsonian, House of Representatives, and Dept. of Commerce are covered by the group as well), that will be a big step in offering open access to the law.

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"Open transfer" agreements: mediating industry and universities: Madey v. Duke exposed one conflict when industry and universities work in overlapping areas. The 2002 federal court decision highlighted a problem at the intersection of university and industry goals.
Texas effectively denies open access to state law: A recent change to the Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure gives "memorandum" opinions full precedential value - but those opinions are currently only accessible through the very expensive Westlaw or LexisNexis.
New law journal launches that focuses on open source: There's a new law journal in town: "The International Free and Open Source Software Law Review (IFOSS L. Rev.) is a collaborative legal publication aiming to increase knowledge and understanding among lawyers about Free and Open Source Software issues. Topics covered include copyright, licence implementation, licence interpretation, software patents, open standards, case law and statutory changes."

About Kristopher Nelson

I'm currently a graduate student of the history of law and technology at the University of California, San Diego. I also provide law and technology consulting services. Additionally, I'm a non-practicing lawyer and former developer/sysadmin at a biotech non-profit. For more about me and my work, see krisnelson.org or my Google Profile.