Pro Codes Act of 2026

This bill amends title 17 of the United States Code to address copyright protection for standards that are incorporated by reference into law. It establishes conditions under which a standards development organization can retain copyright on a standard that has been incorporated by reference into a federal, state, or local law or regulation.

Sec. 3, Works incorporated by reference into law: This section adds a new section 123 to copyright law. It defines key terms including 'incorporated by reference,' 'publicly accessible online,' 'standard,' and 'standards development organization.' It states that a standard retains its copyright protection even after being incorporated by reference into law, provided the standards development organization makes all incorporated portions of the standard publicly accessible online at no monetary cost, in a format with a searchable table of contents and index. The burden of proof is on the party asserting that the organization failed to meet these requirements.