SAN FRANCISCO – The answer is that it appears some folks think so. The Daily Journal reports today that attorney Ed Connor from Irvine complained over three months ago to the Court when he learned that it had given his 143-page brief to Lexis. Of course, Lexis, was charging people for access to the brief.
The questions appears to be whether or not a brief can be copyrighted. According to the Journal, the California Supreme Court feels that it does not want to stop providing the briefs to Westlaw and Lexis for fear of limiting access.
What is obvious from the Journal’s article, however, is that the Court can’t stop providing the briefs because they do not have the capacity to handle the briefs without Westlaw or Lexis.
An additional question not answered or addressed by the Journal’s article is whether or no the California Court’s receive compensation for providing the briefs to Westlaw or Lexis.
According to the Journal, a representative of Westlaw stated that they believe the appellate briefs to be in the public domain.
