COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

DON'T USE PLANS TO BUILD MORE THAN ONE HOUSE

All of our stock home designs include a copyright release or license for their use. However, this right is extended to cover the construction of a single dwelling. This is an exclusive license whereby the blueprints cannot be used or resold to any other person or copied in any way without prior consent of the designer.

REPRODUCING BLUEPRINTS

Purchased construction blueprints are copyrighted documents and may not be reproduced without prior consent of the designer. If additional sets are required for estimating or construction, contact the source you purchased the plans from to obtain additional copies at a nominal cost. Copy shops and reproduction printers are prohibited from making copies of copyrighted documents.

House plans in the form of blueprints or black-lines cannot be redrawn. In addition, plans cannot be modified or redrawn without first obtaining the copyright owner’s permission. With your purchase of blueprints / black-lines, you are licensed to make non-structural changes by “red-lining” the purchased plans. If you need to make structural changes or need to redraw the plans, you must purchase a reproducible set of plans which includes a license to modify plans. Blueprints / black-lines do not come with a license to make structural changes or to redraw the plans

THE COPYRIGHT AND REPRODUCIBLE HOME PLANS

With the purchase of a reproducible, a copyright release or license is also provided with the sale. The purchaser is generally allowed to make up to a maximum of 12 copies for the construction of a single dwelling only. For any extended use, and to avoid any copyright/license infringement, an additional release must be obtained from the original designer.

MAKING DESIGN DECISIONS

The plan purchaser may customize the design to suit personal preferences and accepts the full responsibility and liability for house plan changes per our disclaimer. However, it is critical to understand that the original designer still retains the copyright to such changes or derivative work unless specifically licensed. The revised design may not be resold.

USING THE HOME PLANS

The plan purchaser may loan the home plans to third parties only as is necessary to assist in the construction of the dwelling involved. All such loaned plans must be retrieved and destroyed, except for the owner’s reference set, after such assistance has been completed.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR INFRINGEMENT?

All parties including designers, draftsmen, owners, builders, copy shops and blue-printers may be responsible if a copyright is violated. Furthermore, it does not matter if they knew what they were doing was a violation or not.
To avoid litigation, it is critical that one be certain of the original plan source and refuse to be party to any illicit copying or borrowing of designs and design features.

RESPECT HOME DESIGN COPYRIGHTS

In the event of any suspected violation of the copyright as outlined above, or if there is any uncertainty about the plans purchased, the plan provider should be contacted before proceeding.

If a violation of a home designer’s copyright is suspected, the designer should be contacted. Likewise, if you discover a copyright violation of a Design Evolutions house plan, please contact us by calling the number listed at the bottom of this page.

PENALTIES FOR INFRINGEMENT

Penalties for violating a copyright may be very severe. The responsible parties are required to pay the designer’s actual damages (which may be substantial) plus any profits made. The copyright law also allows the designer to recover statutory damages which can be as high as $100,000. Finally, the persons who infringe can be required to pay the designer’s reasonable attorney fees which often exceed the damages.

 

IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All home plans sold through out this website are protected by copyright. Reproduction of these home plans, either in whole or in part, including any form of copying and/or preparation of derivative works thereof, for any reason without prior written permission, is strictly prohibited. The purchase of a set of home plans in no way transfers any copyright or other ownership interest in it. The buyer has a limited license to use that set of home plans for the construction of one dwelling unit. The purchase of additional sets of that home plan at a reduced price from the original set or as part of a multiple set package does not convey to the buyer a license to construct more than one dwelling.

Similarly, the purchase of reproducible home plans (vellum) carries the same copyright protection as mentioned above. You are generally allowed to make up to 12 copies for the construction of a single dwelling only. To avoid any copyright/license infringement, contact the designer to receive a release and license for any extended usage. A purchaser of a reproducible is granted a license to make copies. However, it should be noted that as copyrighted material, making photocopies from blueprints is illegal.

Copyright and licensing of home plans for construction exists to protect all parties. This also include home design services. Furthermore, it respects and supports the intellectual property of the original architect or designer. Copyright law has been reinforced over the years. Consequently, willful infringement could cause settlements for statutory damages up to $100,000 plus attorney’s fees, damages and loss of profits.