AVIDITY CONSTRUCTIONS AND DESIGN

You want to build a new house.


You’ve been visiting display villages. You’re looking at floor plans online. You find one that you love but, you don’t like the price tag, or you’re not sure about that specific building company.

The plan is perfect exactly what you want to build.

A local builder in your area says they can build it cheaper.
They can take that plan, get their draftsperson to draw it up and get your approvals, and you can start construction soon, all within your budget.

You’re so excited! This seems perfect! The plan you want, at the price you want to pay!
Surely it’s ok – I mean, it’s a plan that’s publicly available online?

STOP.

NO.

You, and your new favourite builder, are about to break the law.

What if you change 10%? You only need to change it a little to avoid breaking copyright laws don’t you?

No. Not that is not correct. Wrong, Very wrong.

As an building designer, I know that my designs are copyrighted to me – unless I decide otherwise. They don’t have to be marked with a copyright symbol for this to occur. In fact its in very contract that a client signs before design works commence. It is inherent in the fact that I designed them. I license my clients to use my copyrighted design on their site. Once, and only for that site. This does not allow them to take the plans and build that house on another site at a later time.


However, I wasn’t sure if this was the case for all designed work and all floor plans. Does this apply to floor plans you find online, on the websites of Metricon, or Ausbuild for example?


So, I did some research.
This was what I found.


Example – Bob and Jill are looking to build a house. They look through the catalogues, website and check out the display homes of numerous builders, and obtain quotes from two of them. Jill loves a floor plan in Builder A’s catalogue, but Builder B can construct a house according to Builder A’s floor plan for a fraction of the price.
Bob and Jill are free to go with Builder B using Builder A’s floor plan, provided a few alterations are made, right?
Wrong.
Why? Copyright law operates to prevent people from copying or reproducing other peoples’ creations in any material form, without first obtaining their consent.


Copyright is very important in the building and construction industry. It protects the rights of those who create new and innovative things.


The following will explain exactly what copyright is, how it works, and how you can avoid infringing it.


What is Copyright Law and What Does it Protect?
Copyright ensures that people who create and construct new things are properly paid for their creations. It provides an incentive for people to continue to design and make cool stuff, which makes life better for everybody.


Contrary to common belief, copyright does NOT exist in an idea as such. Rather, copyright subsists in, and protects expressions of ideas. (In the legal world, “subsists” means that copyright remains in force, or in effect – basically it exists in those drawings).


For example, copyright would exist in:


• a drawing of a floor plan, but not the idea that a house should contain three bedrooms and two bathrooms;

and


• an architectural model of a house, but not in the idea of a double-storey house with a picket fence.


Therefore, we can safely say that copyright would subsist in, and protect, Builder A’s floor plan.


How Might Copyright be Infringed?
When copyright exists in certain subject matter, the creator of that subject matter automatically has the right to deal with that subject matter in certain ways. Essentially, this means that only the creator of the subject matter may copy or reproduce it.


The only way that another person may make a copy of that subject matter is if the creator transfers the ownership of copyright to another person, or grants a licence to that person to copy or reproduce the subject matter.


If you copy or reproduce a substantial part of another person’s creation without consent, then you will have most likely infringed upon the copyright which subsists in it.


For example: If Jill takes Builder A’s floor plan to Builder B, who builds a house according to it, copyright will be infringed by both Builder A and Jill.


But what if Builder B changes the floor plan a little bit? Well, it depends on how different the end result is from Builder A’s original floor plan. If, after the house is built, you can say that a substantial part of the floor plan is recognisable in the house, again, both Builder B and Jill will have infringed Builder A’s copyright.
But what constitutes a ‘substantial’ part of the floor plan?


Basically, if Builder B’s ‘new’ house, there are distinctive, or important parts of Builder A’s plan which remain, even if they are small, it is likely that copyright will have been infringed.


There is no 10% rule! In fact, you could change 90% and have only 10% of the existing design still remain, but if it’s significantly recognisable as belonging to the existing design, you could be infringing copyright


How Can You Avoid Infringing Copyright?
If you wish to use or adapt another person’s design, then all you need to do is ask. While you may be required to pay a licence fee, this is probably better than the amount you may need to pay in future legal costs, if somebody discovers your infringement of copyright.


Information from The Undercover Architect.