INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
But the Y Combinator-backed startup now faces a copyright lawsuit filed against it by the International Code Council, the nonprofit
organization that develops the code used or adopted in building regulations by all 50 states.The case may have ramifications beyond the
building industry, including for compliance technology in other sectors and even individuals who want to reproduce the law
At its core are several important questions: Is it possible to copyright the law or text that carries the weight of law Because laws and
codes are often written by private individuals or groups instead of legislators, what rights do they continue to have over their work
Several relevant cases, including ones involving building codes, have been decided by different circuits in the United States Court of
Appeals, which means the UpCodes lawsuit may potentially be heard by the Supreme Court.Brothers Scott and Garrett Reynolds founded UpCodes
While working as an architect, Scott says he realized how laborious code compliance is for builders, who are required by law to follow codes
that determine things like the height of handrails from the ground, minimum width of openings for bedroom windows, placement of light
switches or how many electrical outlets to have in a hallway.These details are important to ensure buildings are safe and accessible and an
oversight may subject builders and property owners to legal penalties, fines and costly rebuilding
Firms that can afford to do so hire code consultants, but on an industry-wide level, the process of code compliance has been cited as a key
reason for reduced productivity in the construction industry and rising home prices.Scott decided to leave architecture to develop tools
that would simplify the process, and was joined by his brother Garrett, then a software engineer at construction management software company
first product, an online database, gives free access to codes, code updates and local amendments from 32 states, as well as New York City
For building professionals and others who want more advanced search tools and collaboration features, UpCodes sells individual and team
In 2018, UpCodes released its second product, called UpCodes AI
potential errors in real time.Just as technology has dramatically streamlined the compliance process in other highly regulated sectors,
The startup currently has more than 200,000 monthly active users, and has served over 10 million page views and 2 million users since
launch.It argues that its use of building codes is covered by fair use
The ICC wants UpCodes to take down the building code on which it claims copyright, and has also sued for damages.Making building codes more
accessibleServed on UpCodes in September 2017 by the ICC and the American Society of Construction Engineers (ASCE), the lawsuit also names
each of the brothers as a defendant
brothers say they were shocked because they believed they were covered by the fair use doctrine
In the US, fair use is determined using four factors: the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount
and substantiality of the portion taken and the effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work
In one of the circuit court cases that involved building code, Veeck v Southern Building Code Congress International (2002), the judges
anyone who wants to research building code
elevator in their building be fixed within a certain timeframe.Formed in 1994 by the merger of three regional model code groups, the
International Code Council is a nonprofit with 64,000 members headquartered in Washington DC
Its model codes and standards are developed by committees made up of volunteers from its membership and ICC staff
The ICC lobbies for the code to be enacted into law, and earns revenue by selling code books and running accreditation programs.Some places,
Scott and Garrett Reynolds say this makes it more difficult to research code compliance, especially for non-professionals
scanned and put into its database
really at the crux of this lawsuit is that we develop the highest quality codes that are adopted and used by governments at essentially no
But codes still vary between cities and states, with the Economist reporting in 2017 that American counties and municipalities use a
combined total of 93,000 different building codes, and are updated frequently, adding another layer of complexity to the compliance
process.Corynne McSherry, legal director of digital liberties advocacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says at stake in the case
We think of law in terms of what we see onscreen, but not too many of us normally have to engage with a crucial constitutional problem like
those portrayed in movies
makes a pretty significant difference under copyright law and under fundamental constitutional law
We have a very long tradition that in a society governed by the rule of law, people have the right to access the law by which they are
the United States courts of appeals
Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI) (2002)
Two more recent cases involving Public.Resource.org, a nonprofit group that publishes public domain materials to its website, may also
v Public.Resource.org (2018).BOCA (one of the three groups that merged into ICC in 1994) developed a model building code that was adopted by
Massachusetts, with some minor modifications, which BOCA then published as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Building Code
When private publisher Code Technology began publishing and selling its own edition of the code, BOCA sued
authorship of the Massachusetts building code entitles it to enforce a copyright monopoly over when, where and how the [code] is reproduced
The Southern Building Code Congress International, another one of the three regional groups that formed the ICC, published a model building
code adopted by local governments, including the towns of Anna and Savoy in Texas
Peter Veeck, who ran a website with free information about North Texas, bought copies of the code from the SBCCI, then scanned and uploaded
them.When the SBCCI demanded he stop, Veeck responded in a court filing that posting the code did not violate the Copyright Act and was
The SBCCI counterclaimed for copyright infringement
between American jurisdictions and municipalitiesBuilding codes and copyright were also at the center of the two cases involving
Annotated (OCGA) after founder Carl Malamud purchased a hard copy of the OCGA, scanned it and sent copies on USB sticks to Georgia
The Code Revision Commission argued that the annotations they wrote placed it under state copyright, but the Eleventh Circuit ruled in
sued Public.Resource.org for scanning and publishing building, fire and safety codes they considered their copyrighted property
After the District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against Public.Resource.org, the case went on appeal to the DC Circuit
In July 2018, a three-judge panel reversed the decision, and sent the case back to the district court for further consideration, stating
strengthens their fair use argument
UpCodes, on the other hand, is a commercial company, which will become part of the fair use analysis if their case makes it to trial
But that is not a decider, says McSherry, who represented Public.Resource.org in both cases, and the judges are likely to consider the
Public.Resource.org cases, as well as the Veeck and other building code cases.Because the Veeck case never made it to the Supreme Court,
Joe Gratz, a lawyer who has litigated several high-profile internet copyright and trademark disputes and is representing UpCodes and the
distributors that license the code
Lewis partner who is representing the organization: CCC Information Services v
Maclean Hunter Market Reports (1994) and Practice Management Information v
car valuation reference Red Book, which alleged CCC, a data and service provider for the automotive industry, violated its copyright by
uploading information from the guide to its online network
American Medical Association over the use of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), a medical code set that is required by Medicare and HIPAA
and appears in the Federal Register
it to have a revenue stream and continue creating high-quality codes.Scott and Garrett Reynolds, however, say that the ICC appears to have
In its 2016 annual report, the ICC said its consolidated revenue in 2015 was $66 million, an increase of $4.3 million compared to 2014, and
median annual salary for nonprofit CEOs
by the ICC as part of the lawsuit, but despite being questioned for five hours by lawyers, he says the experience made him more determined
Reynolds say that lawsuits like the one they are facing may potentially deter other developers from working on tools to automate building
and safety processes, such as calculating fire resistance in walls
Technology has been able to streamline the process of regulatory and legal compliance in several industries, but innovation may slow if
would-be founders are unclear about how copyright law applies to them.The Electronic Frontier Foundation takes on clients like
If you wanted to access the codes before the internet, you had to buy a hard copy of the codes or go to the library to figure it out
Now ICC has made its codes available online for free
dictatorship, but not in a democracy
