Copyright in Architecture in The United States - Infringement of Architectural Designs

Infringement of Architectural Designs

If an architect is found liable for infringing another work, he could have an injunction issued against him to prevent him from creating the work or be subject to an impoundment wherein the work is destroyed. Moreover, an infringing architect could be liable for actual damages suffered by the plaintiff, profits that the architect made from the infringement, the plaintiff's costs and attorney's fees, and even criminal penalties if the infringement was willful. Similarly, if an architect successfully brings a suit against another architect, he could obtain an injunction or impoundment or recover damages. Thus, recognizing copyright infringement is an important skill for an architect to have to either avoid infringement or determine that another is infringing a work.

According to the Congressional record, "determinations of infringement of architectural works are to be made according to the same standard applicable to all other forms of protected subject matter." Moreover, the references to "overall form" and the nonprotectability of "individual standard features" in the statutory definition "are not intended to indicate that a higher standard of similarity is required to prove infringement of an architectural work, or that the scope of protection of architectural works is limited to verbatim or near-verbatim copying." Thus, infringement of architectural designs, whether registered as a pictorial, graphic, or structural work or an architectural work, is determined by the same standard as all other copyrighted works.

The test for copyright infringement can vary by jurisdiction, but usually involves two steps. First, a court will determine whether there has been copying in fact, which generally includes an analysis of the defendant's access to the copyrighted work and whether the similarity between the two works suggest copying. Second, the court will determine whether the works are substantially similar, which involves comparing only the copyrightable elements of the original and allegedly infringing works.