Architect’s Copyright Infringement Claims Dismissed—Rival’s Designs For Real Estate Project Were “Entirely Different”
A city had issued a Request for Development Proposals (RFP), relating to a proposed mixed use development. A developer and an architect (plaintiff) agreed to submit a proposal. The plaintiff thereafter drafted “architectural plans which included all of the design contents, concepts, zoning information and statistics regarding the proposal to be made to the City.” The developer then submitted a completed design proposal to the city and the developer was designated to develop the site. The proposal involved a “residential high-rise tower, retail space at the base of the tower, a new pedestrian plaza, a public park, and an aboveground parking garage.” The plaintiff thereafter prepared various schematics and registered its project designs with the United States Copyright Office.
