anchor
LA Architect Awarded $5.9 Million for Copied Plans
William Hablinski Architecture wins intellectual property suit against contractors and homeowners for copying a multi-million dollar residence only seven miles from the original. LA Times | Related
6 Comments
Good news for the architect but what about the homeowners that paid for an original house? They didn't received any of the award...
Still smarting from the copycat experience, Sands (owner of original) said Tuesday that he was contemplating a suit of his own. For his part, Hablinski said he might consider sharing the proceeds of the case with Sands.
"That remains to be seen," he said. "We'd have to see what all the legal particulars are."
I suupose that since the architect is the one with the copyright protection, the client technically hasn't been wronged. I wonder how long it may take before the savvy client demands that the client /architect relatonship be termed a collaboration in order to give the client some cause to recover if wronged?
it doesn't take long - a lot of clients, especially developers, will ask for an amended clause, either granting them outright copyright control, or control over the images and reproductions of images, or for some shared credit/control. i've worked on several projects where the client specifically asked for shared credit and wanted to place limits on how we could do the marketing for the project. you either negotiate well, jettison the client, or get trod upon.
not good news for David Childs
"related" indeed.
I wonder if a certain architect would like to make a tax deductible donation.... anyone, anyone??
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.