Veeck v. Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc.

293 F.3d 791 (2002)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
V
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Veeck v. Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
293 F.3d 791 (2002)

Facts

Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI) (defendant) wrote model building codes for use by a wide range of civic entities. Although SBCCI encouraged enactment of its codes, which were available for sale, it sought to limit unauthorized copying. To that end, SBCCI obtained copyright protection for its codes. Peter Veeck (plaintiff) operated a website that provided information on North Texas. Veeck wanted to publish SBCCI’s standard building code, which had been adopted by various small towns in the region. Veeck purchased a copy from SBCCI and published it on his website, identifying it not as the work of SBCCI, but as the building codes for the towns of Anna and Savoy. SBCCI demanded that Veeck cease and desist posting the codes. Veeck sought a declaratory judgment in federal district court. SBCCI counterclaimed, alleging copyright infringement, unfair competition, and breach of contract. The court granted summary judgment in favor of SBCCI. Veeck appealed. A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed. The same court then elected to rehear the case en banc.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Jones, J.)

Dissent (Wiener, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 805,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Copyright Law
Intellectual Property

Key Terms