It has been discussed here how copyrighted house plans cannot be “stolen” without legal consequence.
What about the plans and designs that you create? Can they also be protected, just as the plans sellers like Cool House Plans and Donald Gardner Architect have done?
Let’s say you have been asked, as a design/build person, to propose and execute an interior remodeling scope, for which the owner has engaged no architect or designer other than you. You do drawings and presentations to describe the work, but something falls through and the work does not get done by you.
Later, however, the work does get done, by someone else. A few inevitable changes were made, but largely the work is per your design.
In the past, it did not take much in changing a design to avoid copyright infringement, but lately that has changed.
What do you do to protect yourself from infringement, and what are the costs of legal pursuit and settlement?
I use Google Sketchup’s Pro version for my design work, and have taken to doing a “copyright watermark” on my presentation images, like the one seen in this image here. I just don’t know exactly what it might gain me, or how to pursue things, if in my view, someone has ripped me off.
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Everything that you do in the way of running pen to paper or keyboard to memory is "your work" and is protected by copyright AUTOMATICALLY.
That includes this message. Although by notice from Taunton for hosting the board retrain rights to use the messages.
Putting a copyright notice on the work does not gain you anything. But it does look good and warns people.
But for unregistered work the ability to recover damages is limited and more difficult.
Registering just means sending in a copy of the work along with a form and fee. IIRC it is $35.
Google US Copyright Office and that will get you to the office and the form.
Unlike patents there is no "proof" or other technical requirements.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter WFR
"But when you're a kibbutzer and have no responsibility to decide the facts and apply the law, you can reach any conclusion you want because it doesn't matter." SHG
my understanding is that it is like a copyright on a recipe for chicken soup.
if you change the recipe by adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt you are not violating the copyright.
i take that to mean (correct me if wrong) that you can use the idea but you can't use the exact work. that could mean finished product is very close to copyrighted idea in the first place.
That is not true.First recepies can't be copyrighted."Mere listings of ingredients as in recipes, formulas, compounds, or prescriptions are not subject to copyright protection. However, when a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection."And copyright does include derivatives of the orginal work..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
thanks, i was just using recipes as a frinstance.
copyright includes derivitave, got it.
Bill's correct. Used to be that way up 'till about the mid 90's but plans then fell under the derivitive criteria like everything else.
You can't take a "Harry Potter" book and add another chapter and call it your own. You can't take "Phantom of the Opera", change one scene and call it new.
Runnerguy
yes thanks, i get that too, you would have to go ahead and change harry's name to harvey.
Come to think of it I think we could take last months issue of Fine HomeBuilding, change the name to Finer Homebuilding and we're good to go with our first publication.Runnerguy
yeppers, i don't think anybody will buy it though, unless we start a web forum where people can actually talk about politics, religion, and their favorite sexual position.
It should be noted that you can register AS MANY "works" as you want for that $35.You could send in 2000 drawings in that $35 envelope.JT