Contract C1001200 — the base contract
Executed Nov. 21, 2019 · 26 pages
The heart of the story. § 32 (the FOIL clause), § 35.A (“no cost to NYS”), § 36 (the exclusive right), § 37 (copyright cooperation).
Reporting · July 8, 2026
New York redacted the price of New York law.
A three-month Freedom of Information Law fight over the contract behind the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. What the records show, why it matters, and every document — attached.
The promise that started this
At LawEngine, our whole promise is that every answer we give a legal professional ties back to a source record, labeled with its currency. We are a transparent pass-through from the primary source to the people who have to rely on it. That only works if we can put our hands on the primary source.
For New York, we couldn’t. The NYCRR — twenty-three titles, more than 40,000 sections, the operative rules for everyone in the State — turned out to be opaque, noisy, and, to be frank, out of date at the source: the State’s free electronic copy carries “current through” labels that for some titles sit years in the past. And that free copy is, by the State’s own disclaimer, “not the official version.” The official version belongs to a private publisher. I don’t have an account there. When I called the number the State’s website points the public to, I was asked for an account number I don’t have, and the call went nowhere.
I take the responsibility of telling our users “this is the source of truth” personally. So on April 19, I filed a FOIL request with the Department of State for the contract behind the official NYCRR: who controls the text, on what terms, for how much — and for how long. I’ll say that part plainly: contracts end. This one runs to November 20, 2029. LawEngine builds exactly this kind of infrastructure, and when New York next decides who publishes its regulations, we intend to raise our hand. Two extensions and an appeal later, on July 1 the Department produced 312 pages of records. This is what they show.
What the records show
“There is no cost to NYS associated with this contract.”
Contract C1001200, § 35.A · produced July 1, 2026
1. The State pays the publisher nothing.
Section 35.A of Contract C1001200 says, in terms: “There is no cost to NYS associated with this contract.” Section 1 repeats the point. The State’s contract-reporting system carries the entire arrangement at one dollar per signed instrument — seven dollars, total, for the base contract and its six amendments. The economics run entirely on what New Yorkers, and New York’s own agencies, pay the publisher to read the official text of their own law.
2. The exclusive right is real.
Section 36 of the same contract grants the publisher — West Publishing Corporation, a Thomson Reuters company — the exclusive right to prepare, publish, and distribute the official NYCRR, in all media. There is no free official electronic version. The State’s own website tells the public that the free copy on its site “is not the official version,” and directs anyone who needs the official text to the publisher.
3. The publisher waived the exemption the State then asserted on its behalf.
Section 32 of the contract is captioned “Freedom of Information Law.” It required the publisher, at execution, to identify by document any records for which it claimed a trade-secret exception under Public Officers Law § 87(2)(d). The executed contract identifies none. The Department nonetheless asserted § 87(2)(d) on the publisher’s behalf and redacted the “Private Rate” column — the price the public pays — from six pricing amendments.
4. The redacted number is reconstructable from the production itself.
The contract gives the State a 40% discount off the private price — meaning the State pays 60%. The current pricing schedule discloses the State Rate: $2,884.99 for a new full set. The redacted Private Rate is therefore $2,884.99 ÷ 0.6 ≈ $4,808.32. Both inputs are disclosed in the same production; the Department redacted the answer but published the equation. The production even discloses the 2019 private rate, unredacted, in the publisher’s own proposal. There is no secret here to protect.
We built LawEngine so nobody has to take anyone’s word for what the law says — ours included. Title 19 of the NYCRR is open to everyone, no account required. A free account (no card) opens all 23 titles.
Why it matters
The Supreme Court held in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 590 U.S. 255 (2020), that the edicts of government — the operative text of the law — cannot be owned by anyone. That holding is about copyright. It does not, on its face, reach a different kind of arrangement: one in which the State does not claim to own its regulations, but licenses the exclusive right to publish the official version to a single private company, under a contract that keeps the State’s free electronic copy pointedly unofficial.
That is the arrangement New York has chosen. It has been in place for decades and, so far as we can tell, no one had asked to see the paperwork in a long time. This is what it looks like when someone does.
What we filed this week
On July 6 I signed and mailed, and on July 8 I filed through the Department’s portal and by email, five instruments: an administrative appeal of the July 1 partial denial; a request for an advisory opinion from the Committee on Open Government; a parallel FOIL request to the Office of the State Comptroller; and two further FOIL requests to the Department of State. Each is linked below. More reporting will follow the responses.
The documents
Don’t take our word for any of this. Below are the records exactly as the Department of State produced them, redactions intact, and everything we filed. The full 312-page production — including the 2019 RFP and the publisher’s proposal volumes — is available to any journalist or researcher on request: press@lawengine.ai.
What the State produced (July 1, 2026)
Pricing amendment
Executed Dec. 22, 2020 · 6 pages · Private Rate redacted
First of six annual price increases. Public price blacked out; state price disclosed.
Pricing amendment
Executed Nov. 30, 2021 · 5 pages · Private Rate redacted
Same redaction pattern, second year.
Pricing amendment
Executed Dec. 12, 2022 · 6 pages · Private Rate redacted
Same redaction pattern, third year.
Pricing amendment
Executed Jan. 10, 2024 · 8 pages · Private Rate redacted
Same redaction pattern, fourth year.
Renewal and pricing amendment
Executed Dec. 11, 2024 · 6 pages · Private Rate redacted
Extends the exclusive arrangement to Nov. 20, 2029.
Pricing amendment — the page pictured above
Executed Dec. 29, 2025 · 7 pages · Private Rate redacted
The current schedule, effective Jan. 1, 2026. State Rate $2,884.99 disclosed; the public’s price is the black box.
What we filed (July 6–8, 2026)
Administrative appeal, with Exhibits A–J
Filed July 6–8, 2026 · 47 pages
Asks the Department’s General Counsel to release the redacted pricing. Includes the Department’s July 1 and July 2 determinations as exhibits.
Advisory-opinion request — Committee on Open Government
Filed July 6–8, 2026 · 4 pages
On the application of § 87(2)(d) to publicly filed contract pricing.
FOIL request — Office of the State Comptroller
Filed July 6–8, 2026 · 3 pages
For the complete contract file, including the “Right to Publish Copyrighted Material” revenue contracts that run alongside C1001200.
FOIL request — contractor performance and public access
Filed July 8, 2026 · 3 pages
Currency of the free electronic NYCRR, statutory public-access mechanisms, and the vendor-fee relationship.
FOIL request — the processing file
Filed July 8, 2026 · 3 pages
Seeks the Department’s own case file: who decided to redact, on whose advice, and whether the publisher asked for it.
Questions people ask about the NYCRR
Is the free NYCRR on the State’s website the official version?
No. The State’s own website says the free copy it hosts “is not the official version,” and directs anyone who needs the official text to a private publisher.
Who publishes the official NYCRR?
West Publishing Corporation, a Thomson Reuters company. Section 36 of Contract C1001200 grants it the exclusive right to prepare, publish, and distribute the official NYCRR, in all media.
Does New York pay the publisher for the official NYCRR?
No. Section 35.A of the contract states: “There is no cost to NYS associated with this contract.” The State’s contract-reporting system carries the whole arrangement at one dollar per signed instrument — seven dollars, total. The economics run on what readers pay the publisher for the official text.
What did the State redact from the FOIL production?
The “Private Rate” column — the price the public pays — was redacted from six pricing amendments as a trade secret under Public Officers Law § 87(2)(d). The same production discloses the State Rate ($2,884.99 for a new full set) and the State’s 40% discount, so the redacted number is reconstructable: $2,884.99 ÷ 0.6 ≈ $4,808.32.
Where can I read the NYCRR without an account?
Title 19 — the Department of State’s own regulations — is open on LawEngine with no account required, every section labeled with its source record and currency. A free account (no card) opens all 23 titles.
Read the regulations yourself
The NYCRR is one of the bodies of law LawEngine maintains — every section labeled with its source record and currency, including the sections where the State’s own compiled source is years stale. Starting today, Title 19 — the Department of State’s own regulations — is open to everyone, no account required. Start with the regulator’s rulebook. A free account (no card, no trial clock) opens all 23 titles.
About LawEngine
LawEngine builds legal-research infrastructure that shows its work: every claim tied to a source record, every source record labeled with its currency. We build deep — jurisdiction by jurisdiction, primary source by primary source, across the country — methodical and exacting where it counts. New York is where we started; it will not be where we stop. This reporting is a byproduct of that work, and there will be more of it.
We are growing, and we are hiring legal technologists who care about primary sources. If that’s you, write to hello@lawengine.ai. Journalists: press@lawengine.ai.