Law: Ownership of design drawings by C. Jaye Berger

C. Jaye Berger, Law Offices of C. Jaye Berger

When most people retain architects and interior designers to provide design services, they assume that if they enter into a contract with them and pay their invoices in a timely fashion, that they then “own” the designs they have paid for. It is usually a big surprise for owners when they find out that is not the case. Design professionals own their plans as a matter of common law, as well as by contract.

This can happen on both residential and commercial projects if the designer and the client have a falling out. Often the signed contract for services addresses ownership and rights upon termination, but that is not always the case.

On a commercial project, developers sometimes mistakenly think they “own” the plans and may try to sell the property with the added bonus of including those plans in the deal. Brokers and architects may not even be aware that this is going on. The new architect cannot ethically take the old plans and just put his title block on them. These things are usually negotiated and drafted into an agreement by legal counsel to be signed by the owner and the client.

I am frequently consulted about these issues either on the front end when the parties are working with me to negotiate and draft their contract or on the back end when there has been a falling out and they are uncertain how to proceed.

C. Jaye Berger, Esq., is the principal of the Law Offices of C. Jaye Berger, New York, N.Y.