Eco-House Plans are Protected by International Copyright Laws All of the eco-home plans on this website are protected by copyright laws. You cannot build or modify these house plans unless you purchase the working drawings on this web site. What are EcoHouse Plan Copyrights? The designs featured on this web site result from hundreds of hours of time invested by Ferid Abbasher and Associates to create the ecological house designs that could be suitable for building in every part of the world. The finished work has value that is often entitled 'intellectual property'. The person or company who creates intellectual property owns the legal rights to reproduce and use the intellectual property. Owning the rights to intellectual property is known as a "copyright". When you purchase the working drawings for an eco-home, we give you permission to use our intellectual property. The permission is known as a "Licence". The licence is an agreement that is usually put on paper, and it explains what you are allowed to do with the designs. Being an Internet user, you are probably quite familiar with using computer software. When you buy software you are paying for permission to use the software but the software development company still owns all the rights to the software. When you purchase software, you are given permission to use it on one computer, only. If you want to use the software on several computers, then you need to buy additional licences in order to use the software on multiple computers. Buying EcoHouse plans is similar to buying software. When you purchase the working drawings, you receive permission to use the information in the downloaded DXF and PDF files to build one home. After you receive the information to build an eco-home it is typically something that cannot be returned. Also, if you want to build more than one home, you need to purchase another licence to build each home. Anyone who builds an EcoHouse Plans home or modifies a house plan without purchasing the blueprints is violating international copyright laws. Using someone's intellectual property without their permission is illegal. Violating international copyright laws is a serious offense that can result in severe penalties. "Borrowing Ideas" from an EcoHouse Plan Creating an EcoHouse plan (even a changed plan) from a copyrighted plan is illegal unless you have permission to do so. When you purchase the reproducible master or the DXF/PDF files you receive a licence that allows you to modify the plans. Any eco-home design that is patterned off an existing eco-home plan is generally entitled "derivative work", and we own the copyright to any derivative works. You cannot sell your modified plan, and likewise you can only build one home from the modified plans (unless you pay for another licence for each additional eco-home that is built). Reproducing the purchased Working Drawings If you purchase a reproducible master in the form of a DXF or a PDF file, then you will be able to make copies of the construction drawings. Most design firms stamp their designs with coloured seals. As our original EcoHouse Plan seals cannot be physically integrated into each working drawing file, they too are considered an integral part of the licence received. In other words, when you purchase the reproducible master or the DXF/PDF files you receive a licence which also contains our company’s electronic seal. This is done to notify people that the designs are copyrighted, despite the fact that they do not bear a coloured EcoHouse Plans seal. Building multiple homes from the same EcoHouse Plan If you want to construct multiple homes from the same EcoHouse plan, then you must buy a licence for each eco-home in turn. Selling or distributing EcoHouse Plans You cannot resell our eco-house designs. Reselling EcoHouse plans is a violation of international copyright laws. The house plan licence belongs to the person who purchased the working drawings, and that licence is not transferable. If someone were to build an EcoHouse plan without a valid licence, they would be violating the international copyright laws. You are allowed to distribute the DXF/PDF files to other parties who are involved with your house construction project (such as your quantity surveyor, contractor, architect, subcontractors, building department, or bank).
There are numerous illustrations of design firms suing people who had violated their copyrights. Ferid Abbasher and Associates would offer rewards to people who report and provide legal evidence of copyright violators to us. Many people would be in position to see your eco-house during the construction process, and sometimes contractors or building inspectors report copyright violators to designers. Also, there are people all around the world who make a living by reviewing blueprint filings at building departments, just to find copyright violators. Contractors need to be particularly wary of copyright violations. Sometimes, potential homebuyers present sketches, photocopies, etc. to contractors that are based on copyrighted house plans. Contractors ususally ask the customer where their ideas came from. If their ideas are from a copyrighted plan, the plan needs to be purchased before the home is built. Failure to do so could result in copyright violations and costly legal actions. Should people attempt to develop an EcoHouse Plan without
purchasing the working drawings (or, if you will, a Licence) directly
from this web site, they would not only be stealing from our firm, but
also harm themselves in the process.
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