United States:
Copyright Protection Of Architectural Works
18 April 2022
Phelps Dunbar
To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com.
In order to avoid potential copyright infringement claims,
individuals in the design and construction fields need to be aware
of the protections afforded under U.S. copyright law not only to
designs, but to constructed architectural works.
- Prior to 1990, U.S. law only provided copyright protection to
architectural designs – not to constructed architectural works.
That changed in 1990, when the U.S. Congress enacted the
Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act, which, among other
things, extended copyright protection to constructed architectural
works. - An “architectural work” subject to copyright
protection is defined as “the design of a building as
embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a
building, architectural plans or drawings. The work includes the
overall form as well as the arrangement and composition of spaces
and elements in the design, but does not include individual
standard features.” - Certain “standard features” of an architectural
work are not protected under copyright law,
including functional requirements based on building codes, zoning
requirements, functional demands and available technology. The
standard features also include scènes à
faire (a common term in copyright with other types or
works), which are elements that are common, if not indispensable,
in a genre. Examples of scènes à
faire in house plans would be the arrangement of the
rooms: for example, the kitchen is always close to the dining room,
and the bedrooms will usually be clumped together and near a
bathroom. - When an owner or contractor contracts with an architect or
designer to design a project, in the absence of an assignment of
the copyright, the architect remains the owner of the copyright,
and the owner or contractor merely obtains a non-exclusive license
to use the plans for that specific project. That means, in the
absence of an assignment, the architect will retain the ability to
use the designs and plans on other projects for other clients,
while the owner or contractor will not be able to use those designs
and plans on any other projects. - The copyright protection of architectural works is also limited
in two other significant respects. First, the owner of
a copyright in a building that is visible from a public
space cannot prevent others from making, distributing or displaying
photographs of the building. Second, the owner of
a copyrighted building is free to make alterations to the
building or to destroy the building without the consent of
the copyright owner. - Copyright protection attaches from the moment an architectural
work is created. It is generally not necessary for an architectural
work to be marked to indicate that it is subject to copyright
protection, nor does the owner need to have a copyright
registration, for the owner of the copyright to claim copyright
protection. Additionally, lack of knowledge that an architectural
work is subject to a claim of copyright protection is not a defense
to infringement.
A copyright registration is required to file suit for copyright
infringement, but can be obtained after the infringement first
takes place (although the owner may benefit from timely
registration of a copyright in an architectural work). Design
professionals should take care to consider these issues, both to
protect their own work and to avoid copyright infringement
claims.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
POPULAR ARTICLES ON: Intellectual Property from United States
Obhan & Associates
Trademarks Comparative Guide for the jurisdiction of India, check out our comparative guides section to compare across multiple countries
Copyright Protection Of Architectural Works – Intellectual Property & More United States Latest News Update
Copyright Protection Of Architectural Works – Intellectual Property & More United States Live News
All this news that I have made and shared for you people, you will like it very much and in it we keep bringing topics for you people like every time so that you keep getting news information like trending topics and you It is our goal to be able to get
all kinds of news without going through us so that we can reach you the latest and best news for free so that you can move ahead further by getting the information of that news together with you. Later on, we will continue
to give information about more today world news update types of latest news through posts on our website so that you always keep moving forward in that news and whatever kind of information will be there, it will definitely be conveyed to you people.
Copyright Protection Of Architectural Works – Intellectual Property & More United States Trending News Today
All this news that I have brought up to you or will be the most different and best news that you people are not going to get anywhere, along with the information breaking news today of this news, you can get other types of news along with your country and city. You will be able to get information related to, as well as you will be able to get information about what is going on around you through us for free
so that you can make yourself a knowledgeable by getting complete information about your country and state and information about news. Whatever is being given through us, I have tried to bring it to you through other websites, which you may like
very much and if you like all this news, then definitely around you. Along with the people of India, keep sharing such news necessary to your loved ones, let all the news influence them and they can move forward two steps further.
Credit Goes To News Website – This Original Content Owner News Website . This Is Not My Content So If You Want To Read Original Content You Can Follow Below Links