When we were looking to build a home a few years back, my wife and I went around our neighborhood looking for new homes we liked. (This was not in a planned development community, but in an established 50 year old neighborhood.) When we found one, we would ring the doorbell, talk to the owners, and try to find out who the architect was.
It turned out many of the homes were all done by the same firm, except for the one we liked the most, which was done by a design/builder. We contacted the builder because we wanted something similar. He gave us a copy of the plans used for that house, which had his copyright all over the plans.
We also met with the architect who had done so many of the other houses we liked. We mentioned the design/builder and it turns out that the architect had done some plans for that company in the past. He asked if he could see the plans we had from them. I got them from my car and after a quick look he immediately said they were his plans.
To clarify, these were not plans in a work-for-hire situation. He retained copyright on the plans and gave the builder permission to use them for 1 property. He was shocked when he saw the builder's copyright on them.
Long story short, he commented that there wasn't really anything he would do about it, since the builder often purchased plans from him and he wanted to keep their business. But he was glad to have learned what they were up to.
We too were glad to learn about the builder's ethics. We ended up hiring a general contractor who built us a wonderful home with plans from the real architect. Oh, and on our second meeting with the architect when we began the design process, we started by looking over a copy of the original plans for the house we liked so much. Needless to say, there were similarities between our new house and the one from the design/builder since they were both designed by the same person.
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An architect who didn't sue....
It turned out many of the homes were all done by the same firm, except for the one we liked the most, which was done by a design/builder. We contacted the builder because we wanted something similar. He gave us a copy of the plans used for that house, which had his copyright all over the plans.
We also met with the architect who had done so many of the other houses we liked. We mentioned the design/builder and it turns out that the architect had done some plans for that company in the past. He asked if he could see the plans we had from them. I got them from my car and after a quick look he immediately said they were his plans.
To clarify, these were not plans in a work-for-hire situation. He retained copyright on the plans and gave the builder permission to use them for 1 property. He was shocked when he saw the builder's copyright on them.
Long story short, he commented that there wasn't really anything he would do about it, since the builder often purchased plans from him and he wanted to keep their business. But he was glad to have learned what they were up to.
We too were glad to learn about the builder's ethics. We ended up hiring a general contractor who built us a wonderful home with plans from the real architect. Oh, and on our second meeting with the architect when we began the design process, we started by looking over a copy of the original plans for the house we liked so much. Needless to say, there were similarities between our new house and the one from the design/builder since they were both designed by the same person.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by ohboyohboy.
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