Under the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (AWCPA), a design professional may, therefore, invoke copyright remedies not only for copycat building practices but also for other unauthorized uses of the protected design.
The Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (AWCPA) only protects "architectural work" created on or after December 1, 1990, and some earlier designs as long as they were unconstructed and unpublished as of that date. In determining when a design was created remember that a drawing can be created gradually, as each part is committed to paper.
The Architectural Works Copyright Act defines "architectural work" as the design of a building as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings. The work includes the overall form, as well as the arrangement and composition of spaces and elements in the design, but does not include individual standard features.
The Act covers a variety of "buildings" designed to be occupied by humans such as houses, churches, museums, office buildings, apartments, and condos. Structures other than buildings that are major civil engineering structures such as bridges, cloverleaf highway interchanges, dams, walkways, tents, recreational vehicles, mobile homes, and boats are not protected under this act.