Firms, Lawyers, States Want High Court to Weigh in on Annotations

A legal research company, a nonprofit, and the state of Georgia are all urging the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a copyright dispute over official annotations to state laws—and the outcome may force lawyers to pay more for them.

The dispute centers on Georgia’s long-standing deal with LexisNexis to compile and sell commentary, notes, and other research references that appear as annotations to its state laws. Lawyers use the annotations in legal research, paying a capped price for the state-approved work. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled Georgia can’t copyright the materials.

Georgia ...