There's nothing new in this. Publishing of laws and court rulings has been a mostly private industry for a couple of hundred years - also in the US. In fact, with Internet now is the only time ever that you are able to find most laws and a large number of important court rulings for free. If you are scared of generations you should be more scared of the older ones.
Now, laws and court rulings were not copyrighted, but what good did that do before the digital age made it free to copy them. In 1790, 1890 or even 1990 you had little chance of knowing the law if you didn't buy magazines or books with laws and court rulings.
Now, laws and court rulings were not copyrighted, but what good did that do before the digital age made it free to copy them. In 1790, 1890 or even 1990 you had little chance of knowing the law if you didn't buy magazines or books with laws and court rulings.