Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 11, 2011 4:02 pm Does anyone know how many "coincidental similarities" there needs to be before one can safely assume that a bunch of design decisions on their house have been directly copied? There is a house for sale nearby that I have been in to view, and there are FAR too many similarities between it and the house that Pipe and I built for them to have not been reading my blog and/or this web site... They've almost taken my house - right down to the vegy spray mixer tap in the laundry - and reduced the size and space and moved some rooms about. Almost all of the spaces are either what we HAVE built, or what I blogged we were planning to do, and this house has only recently been finished and placed on the market because the owners separated during the build process or shortly thereafter (again - were they copying me? Re: copying house designs 2Sep 11, 2011 4:19 pm Does it really matter ? If you are a builder protecting your plans I could understand, but if you are not, then what's all the fuss ? I would be flattered that someone thought my design was good enough to copy. Re: copying house designs 3Sep 11, 2011 4:25 pm Because someone paid an architect a huge amount of money for that architect to use my work, that's why... Re: copying house designs 4Sep 11, 2011 4:33 pm OK, fair enough then, but still, unless it's "IDENTICAL" it's different. You can make some minor changes and it will be different and then it's OK. Once you post something on the net you really expose yourself, or expose your house, to being copied, either in part or whole. If it was important enough for you to get your hackles up perhaps you should have only posted pics of the rooms and NOT an actual plan. At least then the floor plan would not be known to the copiers. I think if it was distressing enough for you to pursue you would have a hard time proving anything. You would have to establish that the plan is individual, then establish that theirs is the same, then try and prove that it wasn't just a fluke and that they somehow seen yours. Lots of if's and but's and stress. Re: copying house designs 5Sep 11, 2011 4:52 pm It doesn't need to be the whole house just substantial portions of the house that have been copied to make it a breach of copyright. to get anywhere you would need to demonstrate you had suffered 'damages' as a result of the copying. A defence to copying would be if the owners/designers were able to produce evidence that they had independently arrived at the same design solutions. For example they had a set of bubble diagram studies. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: copying house designs 6Sep 11, 2011 5:45 pm somewoman Because someone paid an architect a huge amount of money for that architect to use my work, that's why... The architect might have some idea (he might be their architect ssssh). One of the big firms sued another firm just for an arrangement of an alfresco or something - don't know how they could think they owned that idea, but they won. Re: copying house designs 7Sep 11, 2011 6:13 pm planfan somewoman Because someone paid an architect a huge amount of money for that architect to use my work, that's why... The architect might have some idea (he might be their architect ssssh). One of the big firms sued another firm just for an arrangement of an alfresco or something - don't know how they could think they owned that idea, but they won. My architect wasn't their architect because it was me... I self designed my home, and it took YEARS of research and playing with designs, and we discussed a lot of it openly in blogs and forums. Re: copying house designs 8Sep 11, 2011 7:05 pm I was once told that it was 16 (?) changes............... Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: copying house designs 10Sep 12, 2011 11:26 am If you have copyrighted plans and can compare them to the plans of this house you might be able to show they copied but you can't copyright an idea, so for instance saying you planned to do something on your blog doesn't give you exclusive rights to it and prevent others from doing such a thing. Same thing goes for interior, i chose all the fixtures, fittings, floor coverings, colours, etc, etc... for my home, but i can't copyright that. But it really comes down to even if you show that they copied your copyrighted plans then does it really matter? As bashworth said you would need to prove you've suffered some kind of damages due to the act of copying to get anything out of it. What is it you're hoping to get out of it? Re: copying house designs 11Sep 12, 2011 11:55 am Realistically, I'm not hoping to "gain" from it at all... That said, I've been wanting to study sustainable architecture for some time, and have been told by the university that they would happily put me directly into the masters programme rather than undergrad + masters + 2 years experience = architect - if a firm is so impressed with MY design ideas then maybe they would be willing to hire me for the (+ 2 years experience) component of becoming qualified. There are seriously far too many similarities between this house and what we have documented for them NOT to have been using my ideas. When you put design, materials, location, interiors, fittings and fixtures and everything together, it's almost the house that I built + many of the planned upgrades once finances were available - all documented. Just about the only things I would suggest were their own ideas were a picture window and a slanted wall. They've used single glazed windows everywhere and angled the roof opposite to how I would have. But they have even installed the retractable shade sails that we used to create the 4m eaves in summer and no eaves in winter - in the same location that we used them. This is my house - on a smaller scale and with a funky angled wall. Re: copying house designs 12Sep 12, 2011 12:13 pm somewoman There are seriously far too many similarities between this house and what we have documented for them NOT to have been using my ideas. That's kind of the point though, you can't claim exclusive ownership of an idea. Quote: When you put design, materials, location, interiors, fittings and fixtures and everything together, it's almost the house that I built + many of the planned upgrades once finances were available - all documented. The only thing you can own out of that is the design, if you've copyrighted the plans. Same as the way everything you listed - sans the house design (plans) - are things i had the idea to do in my house but i can't lay exclusive claim to that combination of things for obvious reasons. It comes down to the plans, whether you published copyrighted plans and whether their plans are similar enough to yours, but without seeing those it's not really possible for anyone to come to a conclusion on that. If I were you I would just consider all the other stuff flattery, if someone came to my house (or read a blog i had written) and copied all my materials, interiors, fittings and fixtures there's nothing wrong with that, it just means I chose very well, or they have just as poor taste as i do Re: copying house designs 13Sep 12, 2011 2:05 pm wouldnt it be great to be able to buy this house..then you and pipe can live in the dream home.(s) Re: copying house designs 14Sep 12, 2011 2:58 pm stinomus, refer back to first paragraph and the "what are you hoping to gain" section I don't actually give a damn, and it IS flattery. But if I can get them to admit to using my design, then they admit to deferring to me already for design decisions, and why then wouldn't they take a chance on me? kiwi, believe me, it's been considered. Out of my price range, though. As a single parent I'm a tad more limited. Re: copying house designs 15Sep 12, 2011 3:33 pm somewoman stinomus, refer back to first paragraph and the "what are you hoping to gain" section I don't actually give a damn, and it IS flattery. But if I can get them to admit to using my design, then they admit to deferring to me already for design decisions, and why then wouldn't they take a chance on me? Oh, well in that case why don't you just ask where they got their inspiration? They may even be willing to refer you if you go about it right. But i guess to answer your question they probably didn't need a direct consult, you published everything on your blog. Re: copying house designs 16Oct 11, 2011 6:26 pm Somewoman, Some of your questions may be answered here, or in one of the links included http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Copyright "The test for what is a substantial portion is often a qualitative rather than a quantitative test. It is the quality or essence of what has been taken rather than the amount that is taken that will often determine whether the portion taken is 'substantial'." It is the expression of ideas rather than the ideas themselves that have copyright protection, and that exists automatically, you don't have to "apply" for copyright. Whether your copyright has been infringed sounds as though it would be very difficult to prove in this instance, so perhaps a reminder that you hold the copyright in your work as published on your blog would be helpful for the future. Sorry that's not really very much help, is it? Variegated Re: copying house designs 17Oct 12, 2011 7:37 pm Somewoman, I heard that they have to change 20% from the plan..... Re: copying house designs 18Oct 12, 2011 9:06 pm And also here at the Australian copyright site http://www.google.com.au/url?q=http://w ... _3YqUAnDPw The article you are after is the House Plan Copyright G017.pdf Stewie Re: copying house designs 20Oct 17, 2011 10:18 am totally understand somewomen. Not fair at all. all your ideas... thats the annoying part. Flattery would be fine if it was just 1-2 things but hellooooo Click here to visit Our Blog PM email id for invites to our blog Building at The Ponds!!! Moving in 2012! Yes, Im following your Lindfield build, looks amazing. 4 1754 Would anyone on this forum know of a builder/company in Brisbane with house designs for a shallow block. I have a block 20 x 20 so with front and rear set backs I need a… 0 4826 Your best bet might be to go visit the display homes and walk around in them, and take photos. Get a feel for it in person instead of deciding from the floor plan. There… 1 21636 |