The power of architect plan copyright

Architects, designers and others will be interested in the recent case Coles v Dormer and Ors [2015] QSC 224 where the Judge ordered modifications to the roof, visible exterior windows and stone edge trim of a newly built house because of copying by the builder and the builder's client of the claimant's house in Port Douglas, Queensland.

The background was that the claimant had purchased the home from the original owners who had come up with ideas and engaged an architect/building designer to implement them. The architect spent more than 100 hours coming up with detailed plans and modifying the plans to comply with engineering advice.

When the claimant bought the house, having fallen in love with it, the under bidders (who also loved the design) asked the original builders to build them a similar house around the corner on a block of land in the same gated community in Port Douglas (only a few streets away from the original house).