How to Copyright Architectural Works

US copyright law provides for the coverage and protection of architectural works, provided that they meet certain requirements. According to the law, an architectural work is defined as “an original design of a building embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings”. The coverage provided by copyright covers those elements of a design that can be considered artistic such as the composition of space and various ornamental elements within a design. It does not, however, cover individual aspects of construction that are structurally required. Such matters, however, might be patented.

The term “building” given in the above definition is given its own sub-definition that is important to remember: “structures that are habitable by humans and intended to be both permanent and stationary, such as houses and office buildings, and other permanent and stationary structures designed for human occupancy, including but not limited to churches, museums, gazebos, and garden pavilions”. In other words, there are certain structures that are usually thought of as architectural works that might nevertheless not be covered by copyright law.

For example, structures such as bridges, dams, tents, recreational vehicles, mobile homes, and boats cannot be considered “buildings” and are not covered by the law. Basic use of spaces such as windows and doors, elements that can be found in the majority of all buildings, are not in and of themselves covered by copyright. Likewise, designs for buildings where the plans were published before December 1, 1990 are not able to be registered, as the amendments to law that made registration of architectural works possible did not go into effect until after that point.

Provided that a building is able to registered with the copyright office, it’s important to know exactly what protection is being offered. An architectural work is covered by copyright law for 95 years from the date of “publication” or 120 years after the creation of “unpublished” plans or blueprints, whichever is the lesser period of time.

Publication of architectural works is a strange concept, but it is fortunately rather clearly defined by copyright law. A technical drawing or set of building plans is considered published at the point that it is copied and distributed to a number of individuals. Likewise, just because a building is erected, it is not necessarily considered to be “published”, unless multiple copies of it are created. This is just one of the usual foibles of legal writing, and there’s some degree of interpretation that has to take place in regards to this language.

Of course, like with most creative works, copyright is actually established automatically upon the creation of a work. Registering is entirely optional, but is often seen as a good idea in that it provides you with some objective basis for arguing in a court that you are the original author of a work should this ever be called into question. In addition, it allows you to more easily bring action against others who infringe upon your works.

When choosing which forms to use to register an architectural work, it’s important to note one more limitation, which is that each registration can only cover a single structure. If your work is composed of multiple buildings, such as a community of houses, then each and every structure must be registered independently. Don’t make the mistake of leaving certain structures unregistered on the basis of a flawed assumption!