Intellectual property is a right enshrined in our very
Constitution, which grants Congress the power "To promote the
progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times
to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective
writings and discoveries."1 Congress has made use of that
power by legislating a wide birth of laws defining what is a
copyright, how to get one, and what it protects.2 Surprising to many
lay observers, architectural works are specifically protected
copyrights.3
In 1990, Congress passed the Architectural Works Copyright
Protection Act (AWCPA) to protect "the design of a building as
embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a
building, architectural plans or drawings," including
"the overall form as well as the arrangement and composition
of spaces and elements in the design," but not including
"individual standard features," such as common windows,
doors, and other staple building components.
