On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of two separate decisions of the New York-based Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that went against West, West Publishing Co. v. Matthew Bender & Co. Inc., 98-1500, and West Publishing Co. v. HyperLaw Inc., 98-1519.
West Group controls Westlaw, one of two computer databases that maintain court decisions. The St. Paul, Minn.-based company claimed that it held a copyright for its “star pagination” system. The system shows where page breaks occur in a document, thus enabling a reader to find the exact location of citation references. West Group also said it held a copyright to “editorial enhancements” to court opinions, which include affixing docket numbers or adding parallel citations in the document.
