Chieftmbm50

Its kinda of a mute discussion as I'm more than willing to pay the original designer for the plan. As I noted, I have already tried to contact them for modifications. While I am not a copy-write guru at all, I do work for a large software developer and deal with software patents all the time. So there is some resemblance. I suspect there has probably never been a successful legation for this type of usage. Imagine the following scenario. I find a plan online and blatantly copy it to build a house. The original designer just so happens to be vacationing in my state and drives by my house. He says "He that looks like my house". He hires a lawyer and he will need to hire an architect. To proceed with the case he has to get a judgment for discovery and warrant so the interior of my house can be evaluated by an expert witness. It now goes to court and he has to convnce a jury his design is orginal, despite the volumes of prior art for nearly identical designs that pre-date his. Now lets assume after all that, the Judge/Jury finds in his favor. His damages are limited to the cost he was selling his plan for online....a measly couple hundred bucks. Its simply not worth the cost nor is it likely someone will random pick out a house they designed from the millions of homes across America. Remember, this is not copying for the sake of mass distribution or sale. Damages are limited to the lost sale. The law is really only useful when someone designs a plan that is not intended to be publicly for sale, or it designed to be an "original". In this case, the "loss" would be a bit more in tangible as an original creation is no longer original. But when a plan is available for public sale, by its very nature its designed to be used to built and modified (all homes get modified at a minimum by onsite contractors). Would I suggest someone copy a design thats truly original like a world recognizable museum? Or copy a design and then try and sell the design online to hundreds of people as your own? No. Nor would I suggest not buying form the original if possible and it fits ones needs. But I suspect that building a plan for an owner/occupier from rough pictures online is quite safe.

Wow, that really started quite the thread. To help clarify, the sample plan I provided is just that. A sample of a design we like. And this design (or a very very similar) one is actually found on at least 4 different websites under different authors. You'd have to judge for yourself if its unique enough to be a copyrighted creation or simply covered under prior art. Either way, thank you to all the people that send me a PM. I literally have dozens of responses and will be going through them over the next few weeks. I'll try and get back to everyone.

Hi Everyone, I'm a home owner looking to get some chief architect design services. We are working with a contractor for a new residential project but he is not a CAD guy. He does use Chief X7 for making small plans and changes. We have found an online plan thats pretty close to what we want but we would like the plan replicated in ChiefX7 so our builder can make changes at will. We did try and contact the website with the plans but go no response. Its a fairly typical 3000sqft 2-story traditional home with attached garage. We are located in PA. Sample layout is attached. A .plan and a .layout would be helpful. As for a time line, we are not in a rush. The project has no set start so its not something we are looking to get priority service for. If anyone is interested, please send me a ballpark figure for the services.