Who owns the law? The War over Access and Ownership

While much attention has been paid to high-profile intellectual property litigation, patent trolls and rights-holders who often cross into gray areas when protecting their rights, less attention has been focused over who owns the law.  It may be not be as well known, but a battle is being fought over who owns the law itself and even Congress is taking notice.  You might think that the answer is a simple one, but it is not and the stakes are high for lawyers and the public at large:

These days the smallest and most exclusive piece of real estate in Washington, D.C., is the sliver of common ground that exists between congressional Democrats and Republicans. But during a January hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on the scope of copyright protection laws, Democrats and Republicans were in broad agreement on an issue that was seemingly settled long ago: No one can own the law.

Read: Who owns the law? Technology reignites the war over just how public documents should be at the American Bar Association