The ASTM court also provided guidance in the most factually analogous situation, stating that “[w]here an incorporated standard provides information essential to comprehending one’s legal duties … this factor would weigh heavily in favor of permitting a nonprofit seeking to inform the public about the law to reproduce in full the relevant portions of that particular standard.” 896 F.3d at 450. While the D.C. Circuit emphasized that this analysis may vary from standard to standard, the court framed model codes as one end of a spectrum where the standards themselves define legal obligations (as noted above). See id. at 442–43, 450–51.
Based on the above precedents, the Court concludes that posting the I-Codes as Adopted clearly serves a transformative purpose: specifically, the dissemination of enacted laws for public awareness. The underlying I-Codes drafted by ICC primarily serve the purpose of model codes, providing recommendations on the standards that governments should adopt to improve and safeguard their built environments. By contrast, the I-Codes as Adopted are actual regulations binding the public and governing its conduct. Because Current UpCodes provides the I-Codes as Adopted to the general public for free, it clearly does so
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