Re: copyright/ plastic surgeon [plus architecture]

On 05/29/97, Robert A. Baron <rabaron[_at_]pipeline.com> wrote:
>
> On 5/28/97, Thomas F. Cotter <cotter[_at_]law.ufl.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Could you argue that one who creates a piece of clothing or a
> > building that copies another's design is actually making a copy
> > of, say, the original designer's blueprints, which are protectable
> > writings? My recollection is that courts uniformly rejected this
> > argument.
>
> In Scarsdale (Westchester County, NY) a few years ago, a construction
> foreman "lent" the blueprints to a commissioned architect-designed
> house to another construction company. The latter built the same
> house a few blocks away. I believe that the architect (and/or the
> owners) sued for copyright infringement and received a settlement.
> Does anyone know the particulars of this case?

I believe the case you're thinking of is Demetriades v. Kaufmann, 690 F.Supp. 289 (S.D.N.Y 1988), in which the defendant's having earlier seen and admired the plaintiff's home hired architects to build one for them (on the same street) of "substantially identical design." They then came into unauthorized possession of the blueprints, and their architects (who were co-defendants) simply traced the design. The court had no trouble labelling this a copyright infringement.

Barbara Friedman
<bfriedman[_at_]grolier.com> Received on Fri May 30 1997 - 12:45:38 GMT