House Judiciary subcommittee hears experts on Pro Codes Act, split over access and SDO copyright

The House Judiciary subcommittee convened an expert panel to examine the Pro Codes Act (H.R. 4072), legislation intended to resolve whether privately developed technical standards retain copyright protection after being incorporated by reference into law.

Chairman Isa opened the hearing by framing the tension at the bill’s center: ‘‘If you can’t access the code, you don’t know what the law says,’’ he said, while also acknowledging that standards-development organizations (SDOs) rely on sales and licensing to fund the technical work that, he and proponents contended, keeps Americans safe.

Jim Paulie, president and CEO of the National Fire Protection Association, told the subcommittee that the NFPA’s work has correlated with substantial safety improvements: ‘‘54% — that’s how much fire incidents have declined in this country since 1980,’’ he said, adding that home fire deaths are down 44% in the same period. Paulie said the NFPA funds standards development primarily through sales and licensing and warned that without copyright protections the SDO funding model would collapse. ‘‘If you take away copyright protection, the funding disappears and with it the system that…