There is no requirement that architectural drawings contain sufficient detail to support actual construction in order to warrant copyright protection under Section 102(a)(5) of the Copyright Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held Aug. 15 (Scholz Design v. Sard Custom Homes LLC, 2d Cir., No. 11-3298, 8/15/12). — Bloomberg BNA
In a recent legal case issued by architecture firm Scholz Design Co., against builder Sard Custom Homes, it was confirmed that “Copyright protection of a pictorial work, whether depicting a house, or a flower, or a donkey, or an abstract design, does not depend on any degree of detail.”
Initially, however, in a lower court, the judge decided in favor of Sard Custom Homes, the defendant, claiming the stolen designs were taken from drawings with insufficient detail. When Scholz Design appealed, a higher court dismissed the initial decision, in favor of the plaintiff.
Good news for architects!
1 Comment
I don't know how I feel about this. While some protection should exist, I would hate to see design relegated to state of patent trolling that's going on in the tech industry. It really becomes a damper on innovation. There's a thin line between being inspired from a design to blatantly taking something. And ultimately construction conditions, means and methods, etc. differ greatly from even very similar projects so I'm not so sure whether this kind of protection is necessary.
I also defer to this great little graphic:
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.