This guide addresses four questions:

1. What is "The Law"?
2. How do I find "The Law" on the Internet?
3. How can I determine if the "The Law" I find on the Internet is reliable and up-to-date?
4. How do I cite, or interpret citations, to "The Law"?

The intended audience are students in the Digital Media Master's Program course on Law in the Digital Age.

The guide concludes with links to related legal research guides that provide additional information about legal research.

Quick Guide

What is "The Law"?

In U.S. jurisdictions (federal and states), three types of law are created:

1. Statutes are laws enacted by legislatures (U.S. Congress, Washington State Legislature). They are first published in chronological order (public laws, session laws) and then in subject arrangement of the laws in force (codes, statutes). The title of the set that contains the federal laws in force is the U.S. Code; the title of the set that contains the Washington State laws in force is the Revised Code of Washington. In addition to the sets published by the government, commercial publishers also produce codes: federal = U.S. Code Annotated and U.S. Code Service; Washington = Annotated Revised Code of Washington and West's Revised Code of Washington Annotated. The annotated commercial publications include references to court cases that interpret or apply the law and to law review articles and other secondary sources.
2. Regulations are written by executive agencies under authority of a statute. Proposed and recently adopted federal regulations are published in the Federal Register and compiled in subject order in the Code of Federal Regulations. Comparable sets for Washington State regulations are the Washington State Register and the Washington Administrative Code. No commercial versions are published.
3. Cases are the written decisions of courts. With one exception, only appellate court opinions are published. The exception is approximately 15% of U.S. district court cases (the district courts are the trial level courts in the federal system).

Laws and cases will be the most frequently used legal materials in this course. You may also need to identify regulations, policy statements, and other material from executive branch agencies.

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How do I find "The Law" on the Internet?

Two websites will help you locate the text of laws, cases, and other legal materials: LexisNexis Academic Universe and the Gallagher Law Library's Internet Legal Resources page.

LexisNexis Academic Universe is a commercial database to which the University of Washington Libraries subscribe. Use is restricted to currently enrolled UW faculty and students who are conducting course-related research. This service offers

• federal and state appellate court cases
• current federal and state statutes
• federal regulations
• law review articles and legal news

Access this service via the UW Libraries Research Databases, http://www.lib.washington.edu/. Click on "Legal Research" once you have entered LexisNexis Academic Universe. You must select the type of legal material before conducting a search. 

Note: Your computer must have a UW IP address, as do the computers found in all of the libraries around campus. If you want to access commercial services like LexisNexis Academic Universe from your home computer, you must either install the University of Washington Internet Connectivity Kit (UWICK) or register via the UW Libraries Proxy Server. 

Example: You want to find the text of the Tasini case. Is it a federal or a state case? Maybe try "Area of Law by Topic". When was the case decided? If you don't know, adjust the date frame to the widest possible range.

Example: You want to find the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Is this a federal or state law? Generally, copyright law is a federal matter, not a state matter. Search the "Federal Code". 

Example: You want to find law review articles on cybersquatting. Select "Law Reviews".

The Internet Legal Resources page, http://lib.law.washington.edu/research/research.html, is also organized by jurisdiction (U.S., Washington, other countries and other states) and then by branch of government and type of legal material. This page links to free sources on the Internet, including sites maintained by government agencies, universities, libraries, and some commercial enterprises. Free legal information on the Internet includes:

• recent federal and state appellate court cases (from the mid-1990s), although all U.S. Supreme Court opinions are available
• current federal and state statutes
• current federal and state regulations (and some older regulations, too)
• legal commentary
• government agency policies, interpretations, documents, and related material

Another site, lexisOne, http://www.lexisone.com/legalresearch/lrfreecaselaw.html, provides the text of federal and state cases from the last five years only (except that all U.S. Supreme Court cases are available). The service is free but registration is required.

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How can I determine if the "The Law" I find on the Internet is reliable and up-to-date?

"The Law" changes constantly. Congress and state legislatures frequently amend existing laws and create new laws. Executive branch agencies revise in-force regulations and draft new ones, often in response to changes in the laws passed by legislatures. And every day, courts interpret laws. Sometimes court decisions declare laws unconstitutional.

Look for a date of currency on all legal sources. Then determine if you need to consult another source to update the law.

Statutes are amended by acts/bills considered in the legislature.

• To determine if a provision of the U.S. Code has been or may be revised by a bill in the current U.S. Congress, visit Thomas, http://thomas.loc.gov/ or Congressional Universe, another commercial database available via the UW Libraries Research Databases .
• To determine if a section of the Revised Code of Washington has been or may be revised by a bill in the current Washington State Legislature, visit the Legislature's website, http://www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/default.htm.

A statute's constitutionality may be affected by a court decision. Search "Federal Case Law" or "State Case Law" on LexisNexis Academic Universe or lexisOne.

Example: Child Pornography Prevention Act, 18 U.S.C. �2256(8)(B)

Regulations may be modified. Consult the Federal Register  (also available on Congressional Universe) or the Washington State Register.

Cases may be overruled or modified on appeal. Sometimes the holding in an opinion may cause the legislature to enact a law to achieve a different result. Search "Federal Case Law" or "State Case Law" on LexisNexis Academic Universe. Academic Universe also offers an option to update the status of a U.S. Supreme Court case. This feature is called "Shepard's for U.S. Supreme Court." The Gallagher Law Library has a public subscription to a service called KeyCite, which may be used to determine the validity of reported decisions from all federal and state courts. You must come to the Law Library to use this service.

When using the Internet for legal research, you must determine if the website you are using is trustworthy, accurate, and complete. Is the sponsor of the website the government entity that produces the legal information? If not, is the website hosted by an identifiable company or organization? How do they obtain the legal material? Can you contact the webmaster if you have questions? Is the scope of the legal information described on the website?

How do I cite, or interpret citations, to "The Law"?

Citations to the law follow a pattern. These citations are based on The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 17th ed. (2000). An Introduction to Basic Legal Citation is at http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/citation.table.html.

Case citations include the names of the parties, a volume number, an abbreviation for the court reporter in which the case is printed, the first page number on which the case begins, and, in parentheses, an abbreviation for the court that decided the case and the year of the decision.

Example: A&M Records v. Napster, 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001)

• Names of the parties: A&M Records and Napster
• Volume number: 239
• Abbreviated court reporter: F.3d, represents the Federal Reporter, 3d Series. For a list of court reporter abbreviations, see Reporters and Digests.
• First page number: 1004
• Abbreviation for court: 9th Cir, representing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Year: 2001

In LexisNexis Academic Universe and lexisOne, you can use a case citation (minus the names of the parties and the parenthetical information) to retrieve a case whose citation you already know. Use the "Get a Case" feature.

Citations to statutes and regulations look similar to case citations, but you interpret them differently. A statutory or regulatory citation includes a title or chapter number, an abbreviation for the code in which the law appears, a section number, and, in parentheses, the publication date of the code. The name of the law or regulation may be included at the beginning of the citation.

Example: Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act of 1998, 15 USC � 6501 et seq. (2000). 

• Name of the law: Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act of 1998
• Title number: 15
• Abbreviated title of the code: USC, represents the United States Code
• Section number: 6501; the "�" symbol stands for "section"; "et seq." stands for "and the sections following"
• Year: 2000

You will also see references to recently enacted laws with Public Law numbers and references to the U.S. Statutes at Large.

Example: Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56

• Name of the law: Telecommunications Act of 1996
• Public Law number: Pub. L. No. 104-104, indicates that the law was the 104th law enacted during the 104th Congress
• Statutes at Large volume number: 110
• Abbreviated title: Stat., represents U.S. Statutes at Large
• First page number: 56

Related Legal Research Guides

• Administrative Law Research covers federal and state rules and regulations.
• Case Law provides additional detail about court decisions.
• Reporters and Digests identifies publications containing court decisions (reporters) and tools for locating cases by subject (digests).
• Statutory Research Checklist review the process of locating laws in print and online sources.

The Gallagher Law Library is open to the public. Hours are posted on the web at http://lib.law.washington.edu/hours/hours.html. You may also call the Reference Office with questions about legal research: 206/543-6794.

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