Congress protects copyright on safety codes—if companies make them free online

What it does

This bill amends copyright law to protect standards-development organizations' copyrights on technical and safety codes that are incorporated by reference into federal, state, and local laws—meaning the law cites the standard rather than reprinting it. In exchange, the bill requires these organizations to make the full text of incorporated standards freely available online (read-only, no account cost) within a reasonable time after the standard is adopted into law. The bill balances public access to rules that have the force of law against the copyright holders' revenue model.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a copyright-retention grant to standards-development organizations, conditioned on free public online access. It is not primarily a deregulation or a pure public-access mandate; it is a negotiated balance struck in copyright law.

What the text implies

• The bill does not establish a federal agency to monitor SDO compliance or enforce the free-access requirement; enforcement depends entirely on private litigation with burden of proof on the challenger, creating a weak accountability mechanism.
• The definition of 'publicly accessible online' permits account-creation requirements and terms-of-service agreements, provided there is no monetary cost and no use of personal data without consent—but does not prohibit data collection itself, only non-consensual use.
• The bill protects copyright on standards incorporated by reference but does not address the underlying question of whether citizens have a right to read laws that bind them; it frames access as a courtesy, not a democratic entitlement.
• Standards development organizations retain full control over the format, searchability, and update frequency of free online versions; the bill requires 'searchable table of contents and index, or equivalent aids' but does not mandate machine-readable or downloadable formats.
• The 'reasonable period of time' standard for SDO compliance is undefined and not subject to regulatory interpretation, creating ambiguity about when an SDO is in breach.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Citizens gain guaranteed free online access to technical codes that have become law—a real transparency and accountability win. However, the bill's operative mechanism is a copyright protection grant to private standards organizations, conditioned on compliance that the bill does not enforce with agency oversight or penalty; the burden of proof falls on challengers, not the SDO, creating a weak enforcement pathway.

Who stands to gain

• standards development organizations (ASTM International, IEEE, NFPA, ISO, etc.)
• technical standards publishers and licensing platforms

Named in the bill

standards development organizations, ASTM International, IEEE, NFPA, Office of Management and Budget, Circular A-119, National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal agencies, State and local governments

Where it stands

5 cosponsors: 3 Republicans, 2 Democrats.

• Jun 23, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jun 23, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

17 lobbying clients named this bill on 27 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,876,684 in lobbying spend. A filing names 4 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 96% of bills with at least one filing.

Darrell Issa, the sponsor, reported $335,200 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Asme — $470,887 on 2 filings
• International Code Council (icc) — $317,500 on 2 filings
• Compressed Gas Association — $180,000 on 2 filings
• National Electrical Manufacturers Association — $180,000 on 2 filings
• National Fire Protection Association — $110,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 24, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.