Lovdata

Lovdata is a Norwegian legal-information foundation and publishing organization focused on collecting, organizing, publishing, and distributing authoritative judicial information. It was established on 1 July 1981 by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police together with the Statute Book Foundation at the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo. The organization was created to support systematic access to Norwegian legal sources and has since developed into one of the country’s principal legal-information services. Its core public-facing service is the Lovdata website, which provides free access to Norwegian laws and a broad range of other legal documents, including court rulings. Lovdata also operates subscription-oriented legal-information services and publishes legal periodicals. Its publishing activities include Norsk lovtidend, the official Norwegian law gazette, as well as Lov&Data and EuroRett. Through these activities, the organization serves legal professionals, public authorities, academics, students, journalists, businesses, and members of the public seeking primary legal information. Lovdata’s technological development has been an important part of its history. It had established a legal database by 1983 and began distributing laws on compact discs in 1990, reflecting the transition from printed legal collections to electronic information services. The organization later made its legal database available through the web, combining publicly accessible material with paid services and editorially organized research tools. Lovdata is structured as a foundation rather than a publicly traded company. Its role combines public-interest dissemination of legal information with professional publishing and database operations. This hybrid model has also created tensions over the reuse of judicial materials. In 2018, Lovdata brought legal proceedings against Håkon Wium Lie and Fredrik Ljone after they published Norwegian court decisions through rettspraksis.no. Lovdata argued that the material had been copied from its servers and that the site reproduced court decisions in competition with its paid access service. An Oslo court initially ordered the site to close and required the defendants to cover Lovdata’s legal costs. In September 2019, the Norwegian Supreme Court ordered the removal of court decisions that had been copied from Lovdata. The dispute became a prominent Norwegian debate about copyright, public access to court decisions, database rights, and the boundary between open legal information and commercial legal publishing. Lovdata remains an active Norwegian legal-information brand. Its public website, official publications, periodicals, and database services place it at the intersection of legal publishing, public records access, digital information management, and professional research.

Lovdata was founded on 1 July 1981 through cooperation between the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police and the Statute Book Foundation at the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo. Its institutional purpose was to improve the organization and dissemination of Norwegian legal information. The foundation developed a specialized role in publishing legislation, judicial material, and legal commentary while preserving a public-interest orientation. By 1983, Lovdata had established a legal database. This marked an early move toward electronic legal research in Norway, allowing legal materials to be stored and retrieved in a structured format rather than being consulted solely through printed volumes. In 1990, Lovdata expanded its electronic publishing activities by distributing laws on compact discs. These products preceded and helped establish the organization’s later web-based services. Lovdata subsequently developed an online platform offering access to Norwegian laws and other judicial documents. The website made a substantial body of legal information freely available to the public, including legislation and court rulings. Alongside this open-access function, Lovdata maintained professional and subscription-oriented services for users requiring organized legal research, broader databases, or specialized editorial content. Its publishing portfolio includes Norsk lovtidend, the official Norwegian law gazette, and the periodicals Lov&Data and EuroRett. These publications complement the database by providing formal publication, legal-technology coverage, and European legal material. The organization therefore operates across several related activities: official and specialist publishing, database management, digital information delivery, and public dissemination of primary legal sources. Lovdata’s history also includes a significant dispute about the reuse of court decisions. In 2018, it sued Håkon Wium Lie and Fredrik Ljone after they published Norwegian court decisions on rettspraksis.no. Lovdata contended that the decisions had been taken from its servers and that the website was reproducing material connected to a service for which Lovdata charged an annual fee. An Oslo court ordered the site to close in less than a day and directed the defendants to pay Lovdata’s legal costs. The matter generated wider discussion about whether judicial decisions should be freely reusable, the legal protection of databases, and the relationship between public access and the financial sustainability of legal-information providers. In September 2019, the Norwegian Supreme Court ordered Wium Lie and Ljone to remove court decisions that had been copied from Lovdata. The case became one of the most visible episodes associated with the organization and framed Lovdata not only as a publisher but also as a gatekeeper and database operator in Norway’s digital legal-information environment. Lovdata continues to function as an active Norwegian foundation. It combines public access to legal documents with professional publishing and research services, maintaining a distinctive position between public legal infrastructure and commercial legal-information distribution.

• 2019

  Supreme Court ruling in copying dispute

  [1]Lovdataen.wikipedia.org

  The Norwegian Supreme Court orders the removal of court decisions copied from Lovdata.

• 2018

  Dispute over rettspraksis.no

  [1]Lovdataen.wikipedia.org

  Lovdata sues the operators of rettspraksis.no over the publication of Norwegian court decisions allegedly copied from Lovdata’s servers.

• 1990

  Laws distributed on CD

  [1]Lovdataen.wikipedia.org

  Lovdata begins publishing laws on compact discs, extending its electronic distribution of legal materials.

• 1983

  Legal database begins operation

  [1]Lovdataen.wikipedia.org

  Lovdata has established a database for Norwegian legal information, beginning its development as an electronic legal-research provider.

• 1981

  Lovdata is established

  [1]Lovdataen.wikipedia.org

  The Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police and the Statute Book Foundation at the University of Oslo’s Faculty of Law establish Lovdata as a legal-information foundation.

A Norwegian legal-information and publishing foundation combining free public access to legislation and judicial documents with professional legal databases, official publications, and specialist periodicals.

• Legal information platform

  Lovdata online service

  Lovdata’s principal digital service provides access to Norwegian legislation and other judicial documents, including court decisions. The platform combines free public access with professionally organized legal-information services and supports research by legal professionals, public institutions, academics, students, and the general public.

• Official legal publication

  Norsk lovtidend

  Norsk lovtidend is the official Norwegian law gazette published by Lovdata. It forms part of the organization’s formal legal-publishing activity and supports the dissemination of Norwegian legislative and regulatory materials.

• Legal periodical

  Lov&Data

  Lov&Data is a periodical published by Lovdata. It belongs to the organization’s specialist publishing portfolio and is associated with legal information and law-and-technology subject matter.

• Legal periodical

  EuroRett

  EuroRett is a Lovdata legal periodical focused on European legal material. It extends the organization’s publishing activities beyond the core Norwegian database and official law-gazette functions.

• 2018

  Lovdata litigation over copied court decisions

  Lovdata sued Håkon Wium Lie and Fredrik Ljone after court decisions were published on rettspraksis.no. The case raised questions about database protection, the reuse of judicial decisions, public access to law, and the sustainability of paid legal-information services.

  Source

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• 2018

  Legal action against rettspraksis.noOther

  Background

  A separate website published Norwegian court decisions that Lovdata said had been copied from its servers and used to provide access competing with Lovdata’s paid court-decision service.

  Action taken

  Lovdata brought proceedings against Håkon Wium Lie and Fredrik Ljone, seeking to stop the publication and address the alleged copying of material from its database.

  Aftermath

  An Oslo court ordered the website to close and awarded Lovdata its legal costs at the initial stage. In 2019, the Norwegian Supreme Court ordered removal of the copied decisions.

  Source

1. 1Lovdataen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Lovdata official websitelovdata.no