LICENSE & COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
House Plans are Copyrighted
Just like books, movies, and songs, federal copyright law protects the intellectual property of architects and home designers by giving copyright protection to house plans and designs. These legal protections exist to protect all parties. The copyright law prevents anyone from reproducing, modifying or reusing the plans or design without written permission from the copyright owner.
IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTICE
All plans sold through our publications are protected by The United States Copyright Act. Reproduction of these plans, either in whole or in part, including any form of copying, distribution, dissemination, preparation, of derivative works therefrom, for any reason without prior written permission, is strictly prohibited. The purchase of a set of house plans in no way transfers any copyright or other ownership interest in it to the buyer except for a limited license to use that set of house plans for the construction of a dwelling unit.
Similarly, the purchase of reproducible house plans (vellums, sepias, mylars) carries the same copyright protection as stated above. Whereas a purchaser of the reproducible plan is granted a license to make copies for the purchaser's use in the construction of dwelling units, making photocopies from our bond drawings is illegal.
Copyright and licensing of house plans for construction exists to protect all parties. It respects and supports the intellectual property of the original architect or designer.
Copyright law has been reinforced over the past few years. Willful infringement could cause settlements for statutory damages up to $150,000 plus attorney fees, damages and loss of profits.
LICENSE AGREEMENT
The License Agreement defines the terms and conditions of the licenses BM Architect, llc. issues granting permission to use our house plans and other products that are available for purchase. Customer's acceptance and use of the Licensed Plan constitutes acceptance of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
We offer two types of Licenses: Single use License & Multi use License
The Single use License grants the purchaser a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to construct one home from the plan purchased. The license to construct a home from these plans is granted to the original purchaser only and may not be transferred, assigned, or sub-licensed to any other party. Any reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited.
The Multi use license grants the purchaser a non-exclusive, non-transferable multi-use license to construct an unlimited number of homes from the plans purchased. The license to construct homes from these plans is granted to the original purchaser only and may not be transferred, assigned, or sub-licensed to any other party. You may reproduce or modify these plans for your construction purposes only. Copies may not be licensed, sold or given to anyone else.
RESTRICTIONS
All BM Architect, llc. plans are protected under United States copyright law. To comply with U.S. copyright laws any use of the plans must be specifically authorized by BM Architect, llc. This includes construction, distribution and marketing, copying or modifying the plans. All BM Architect, llc. copyright and title information must remain on all prints, reproducible, electronic, and sales media. BM Architect, llc. must be recognized as the original designer of the plan or any derivative work there from.
The use of our products for marketing is strictly limited to the type of license purchased. Any other means of marketing is prohibited. The Nume name and logo are trademarks of BM Architect, llc. Any use without permission is prohibited.
There are no warranties made by BM Architect, llc., either express or implied, other than a warranty of title. BM Architect, llc. specifically disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Any violation of any of the terms, conditions, and restrictions of this Agreement shall cause the license to be immediately revoked of its own accord and without notice from BM Architect, llc.
PENALTIES FOR INFRINGEMENT
Penalties for violating copyright may be severe. The responsible parties are required to pay actual damages caused by the infringement (which may be substantial), plus any profits made by the infringer. The copyright law also allows for recovery of statutory damages, which may be as high as $150,000 for each infringement. Finally, the infringer may be required to pay legal fees, which often exceed the damages.
Any party who participates in copyright violation may be responsible, including the purchaser, designers, architects, engineers, drafters, homeowners, builders, contractors, subcontractors, printers, developers and real estate agencies. It does not matter whether the individual knows that a violation is being committed. Remember: ignorance of the law is not a valid defense. Refuse to be a party to any illegal copying or use of designs, derivative works, prints or design features by being certain of the original plan source.