Pro Codes Act of 2026

The bill amends Title 17 of the U.S. Code to establish requirements for works incorporated by reference into law, aiming to balance the creation of standards with public access. It recognizes the significant role of standards development organizations (SDOs) in creating technical and voluntary consensus standards, which are widely adopted by federal, state, and local governments into their laws and regulations. These SDOs rely on copyright protection and the sale of their standards to fund their development processes. Under the proposed changes, a standard retains its copyright protection even when incorporated by reference into law, provided certain conditions are met. The SDO must make all portions of the incorporated standard publicly accessible online at no monetary cost within a reasonable period after receiving notice of its incorporation. This online access must also include a searchable table of contents and an index to facilitate content location. The bill defines "publicly accessible online" to allow for account creation or terms of service agreements, as long as there is no monetary cost and personal information is not used without consent. It also places the burden of proof on any party asserting that an SDO has failed to meet these requirements. This framework seeks to ensure continued innovation in standards development while guaranteeing public access to the legal requirements that affect them.