- Mon May 14, 2007 9:29 am
#224785
Michael and Michael,
ever a hot topic, intellectual property. And countries have different legislation. Especially the US and Germany.
Regarding the Kokuyo competition, I am not sure which jurisdiction would cover this, japanese or US. However, I am sure that it is not in the hands of one party to lay down any kind of outrageous guidelines. Like: if we choose your design for production, you must hand us over all the rights and your wife and children too.. So you might submit your design with a note laying down your own guidelines for usage of your design. They will either expel you from the competition or you will have to negotiate a contract in case you win. If they think it's worth all the hassle, and if you convincingly stage enough pressure.... which I'm sure you'd do.
Regarding architecture competitions in Germany, this is a bit more complex. You cannot lose, or transfer, your Urheberrecht (kind of creative copyright). It is inalienable. It is normally agreed that the proponent of the competition acquires a license to publish the design of each participant, and a license to exploit the design of a winner - but only if this winner is being commissioned. If you win a prize but get no commission, your design must not be used. Often, this commssion does not cover the entire planning stages. And as you say, the prize money is subtracted from the architects' fee when you receive a commission. There are some regulations for competitions called RAW. Any competitions laying down other guidelines may be contested. However, there are many competitions breaching these regulations and nobody objects. Because.. you won't get invited to participate in the next competition.. And these are all the lucrative closed competitions, not the rather unpromising open ones.
ever a hot topic, intellectual property. And countries have different legislation. Especially the US and Germany.
Regarding the Kokuyo competition, I am not sure which jurisdiction would cover this, japanese or US. However, I am sure that it is not in the hands of one party to lay down any kind of outrageous guidelines. Like: if we choose your design for production, you must hand us over all the rights and your wife and children too.. So you might submit your design with a note laying down your own guidelines for usage of your design. They will either expel you from the competition or you will have to negotiate a contract in case you win. If they think it's worth all the hassle, and if you convincingly stage enough pressure.... which I'm sure you'd do.
Regarding architecture competitions in Germany, this is a bit more complex. You cannot lose, or transfer, your Urheberrecht (kind of creative copyright). It is inalienable. It is normally agreed that the proponent of the competition acquires a license to publish the design of each participant, and a license to exploit the design of a winner - but only if this winner is being commissioned. If you win a prize but get no commission, your design must not be used. Often, this commssion does not cover the entire planning stages. And as you say, the prize money is subtracted from the architects' fee when you receive a commission. There are some regulations for competitions called RAW. Any competitions laying down other guidelines may be contested. However, there are many competitions breaching these regulations and nobody objects. Because.. you won't get invited to participate in the next competition.. And these are all the lucrative closed competitions, not the rather unpromising open ones.
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