NFPA Journal - Summer 2021 - 37

But the proven process that produced NFPA 3000 and
hundreds of other public safety standards is under attack
on multiple fronts, including a looming global problem of
counterfeit codes and standards, fakes that are riddled with
inaccuracies and that have the potential to " undermine the
standards system and compromise safety, " according to Pauley.
The most significant threat, though, is coming from an
attack on the validity of NFPA's copyrights. NFPA and other
standards organizations have been challenged by opponents
who argue that codes and standards automatically lose their
copyright protection whenever any government entity incorporates a standard by reference. The proponents of this argument
make the simplistic and misleading assertion that no one
can " own the law. " This assertion ignores numerous facts.
It ignores that NFPA is not seeking to prevent anyone from
knowing what its standards say-NFPA makes all of its codes
and standards available for viewing on its website for free. It
ignores the time, resources, and expense necessary to create
and maintain those standards as new technologies emerge
and as new lessons are learned from incidents. It ignores the
fact that organizations like NFPA rely on the sale of codes and
standards to pursue their safety missions. And it ignores that
even where a governmental body has incorporated a standard
by reference, numerous elements of that standard will not
establish any legally binding obligation. Despite that fact,
NFPA standards are still copied wholesale by those who seek to
destroy NFPA's copyrights.
The concern goes beyond revenue, Pauley said. " We're talking
about a system that cannot be duplicated without someone
else incurring tremendous expense, and without the risk that
the end product will be of lesser quality, " Pauley said. " We're
talking about a system that brings together the best and latest
information with the best minds. Millions of people around the
world benefit from this work, but few appreciate what it takes
to make it happen. That lack of understanding has to change,
or we risk disaster. "

Above left, innovative tools including the new NFPA LiNK
offer codes and standards users new ways to access
and apply information. Above, events like the 1942
Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire have played important
roles in shaping an array of NFPA codes and standards.

THE NFPA RESPONSE

Turning information into
knowledge with NFPA LiNK
As the copyright challenge is considered by the courts,
NFPA has adopted a forward-looking approach by
developing new products that bring value to users and
help support its core mission.
A central part of that effort was the creation of NFPA
LiNK™ (nfpa.org/link), a new subscription-based digital
content platform that, when fully developed, will offer
the complete library of NFPA codes and standards in an
innovative, interactive format. Launched in September 2020, NFPA LiNK offers a number of tools to help
users get the most out of NFPA documents, including
situation-based navigation so that users who are not
well-versed in using code books can easily find the
information they need. When new editions of codes and
standards are released, NFPA LiNK subscriptions will
be automatically updated.
" We're not just a standards developer-we're an
information and knowledge provider, " Pauley said.
" If you look at it that way, you realize the codes and
standards are one piece of information. How do we turn
that information into knowledge for users? That's what
we've achieved with NFPA LiNK. We are fundamentally
transforming the way building and life safety information is delivered and used by people in every discipline
who rely on this material to do their jobs. "
N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL

125th Anniversary_Summer 2021 DCS to ADA as R1.indd 37

| 37

4/30/21 5:06 PM

http://www.nfpa.org/link https://nfpa.org/JOURNAL

NFPA Journal - Summer 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Summer 2021