In this article, attorney Manuel R. Valcarel IV discusses copyright issues that architects deal commonly deal with. Valcarel begins his article by stating that copyright is one of the most important forms of intellectual property protection that architects are involved with, and that copyright law provides architects with an incentive to increase their creativity and originality in their designs. Original expression is not only seen in works such as books and media, but also in architecture as it surrounds us every day. Valcarel brings up the interesting point that architects have to deal with copyright defensively, and offensively. Architects need to avoid violation of third-party rights when creating new buildings, as well as protect their own rights to their original work. This article is useful because it also discusses the qualities of an architectural work that are tied into copyright law. According to Section 102 of the Copyright Act, the part of a work of architecture that can be protected does not include functional features or design elements, but includes the arrangement of spaces and elements of the design and the general form. Examples of functional structures that cannot be copyrighted are bridges, dams, or walkways. The protection for an architectural work lasts for 95 years from the date of publication. This article highlights the separation between artwork utilizing architecture and the architecture itself, by bringing up the fact that it is not a violation of copyright law for someone to take a photograph or create a painting of a building. The main point of this article is that architects need to have a thorough understanding of copyright law, and must deal with it often in their practice. It is not uncommon for clients to approach an architect with designs that they themselves, or someone else, have created, and the architect must ensure that the work that he or she creates does not infringe on any third party works.

In this article, attorney Manuel R. Valcarel IV discusses copyright issues that architects deal commonly deal with. Valcarel begins his article by stating that copyright is one of the most important forms of intellectual property protection that architects are involved with, and that copyright law provides architects with an incentive to increase their creativity and originality in their designs. Original expression is not only seen in works such as books and media, but also in architecture as it surrounds us every day. Valcarel brings up the interesting point that architects have to deal with copyright defensively, and offensively. Architects need to avoid violation of third-party rights when creating new buildings, as well as protect their own rights to their original work. This article is useful because it also discusses the qualities of an architectural work that are tied into copyright law. According to Section 102 of the Copyright Act, the part of a work of architecture that can be protected does not include functional features or design elements, but includes the arrangement of spaces and elements of the design and the general form. Examples of functional structures that cannot be copyrighted are bridges, dams, or walkways. The protection for an architectural work lasts for 95 years from the date of publication. This article highlights the separation between artwork utilizing architecture and the architecture itself, by bringing up the fact that it is not a violation of copyright law for someone to take a photograph or create a painting of a building. The main point of this article is that architects need to have a thorough understanding of copyright law, and must deal with it often in their practice. It is not uncommon for clients to approach an architect with designs that they themselves, or someone else, have created, and the architect must ensure that the work that he or she creates does not infringe on any third party works.