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ARTICLE · 10 JULY 2014

Architectural Copyrights Should Be Treated No Differently Than Other Copyrights

McDermott Will & Emery
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The plaintiff-appellant, James Zalewski, an architect, had licensed his designs for colonial-style houses to some of the defendants.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Barrington Dyer
Barrington Dyer
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Zalewski v. Cicero Builder Dev., Inc.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in addressing the extent to which architectural works are protectable copyright material and the proper framework for assessing copyright infringement of a work of architecture, rejected the 11th Circuit's analysis that categorized architecture as "compiled works" of copyrightable elements, reasoning that architectural works—like all works of art to some extent—are compiled from uncopyrightable elements, and therefore that architectural designs should be treated like any other art form when assessing copyright infringement.  Zalewski v. Cicero Builder Dev., Inc., Case No. 12-34488 (2d Cir., June 5, 2014) (Wesley, J.)

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