Service Campaign: Why Auto Repair Bulletins Aren’t on Regulators’ Web Site

By Christopher Jensen

FOR years, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has declined to post on its Web site reports from automakers about problems with their cars and about specialized warranty extensions that could save consumers large sums on repairs.

The reason: the agency says automakers have warned it that the reports, called technical service bulletins, are copyrighted.

The technical service bulletins are sent to dealers by automakers and provide information on unusual problems with vehicles they have produced — most of them in the hands of customers — and how to make repairs. Special service campaigns are a form of technical service bulletin that often tell dealers of warranty extensions for particular repairs.

“Many manufacturers have asserted that technical service bulletin information is copyrighted and will not waive those copyrights,” Karen Aldana, an agency spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail. “N.H.T.S.A. has a legal obligation to abide by copyright law.”