ABA responds to critics regarding access to ethics opinions

A few days ago, I posted a note about the debate on the availability (or lack of it) of ABA Ethics Opinions and the ABA's practice to charge for granting permission for others to copy or use the opinions in some cases. See here. In response, the ABA has published this announcement.

Interestingly, the announcement actually admits to the accuracy of the main criticism: the ABA does not allow others to post the opinions on their own sites claiming copyright protection. Instead, the ABA encourages others to link to the ABA’s website to access the opinions, but since the opinions are only available free of charge for six months, the links are of little use to those who are not members of the ABA after that period of time. Those who defend the ABA's position argue that enforcing copyright protections allows the ABA to generate some income to cover the costs of providing its services to the profession and that lawyers who want to enjoy the benefits of those services should contribute to pay for them.

Thanks to the Legal Ethics Forum for the update.