![]() ![]() Obviously, if they are using your own drawings to help you on a project and they send corrections/revisions back to you. However, when is the line crossed legally? The answer is whenever you feel your property is being misused/reused in an unauthorized fashion - regardless of whether or not you know you can prove it. In some industries, the only way to achieve a smooth transition between designers is to allow other companies to edit your files as necessary and then send them back to you. It seems like it's the companies working along-side yours that end up doing this kind of stuff. It isn't necessarily the client you need to watch out for. Do you think the client would resort to unauthorized re-use of your intellectual property? Does that client have so many other independent clients that you don't want to take the chance? Do you care if you post your drawings online and 20 companies end up using the content therein? Some things to think about.Īlso, your intellectual property can be illegally used by others regardless of how safe you think your main client might be. One thing to consider is the client or "target" client for your work. But the company just isn't legally protected without it. I've decided to put privacy/legal notices on all of my "freelance" work from now on because of something I found out recently. Knowing what the drawings depict, I can only wonder why they don't want it there. I've worked for a company for a few years now that insists they don't want a privacy statement on the drawings I produce. I guess the real question is why wouldn't you use a privacy statement? ![]() Also, even if your sheet formatting isn't copied (titleblocks and text for example) if you have reason to believe your designs and/or intellectual property is being misused without your consent you would still have legal footing if you have a privacy statement. There is a way to prevent CAD files from being overwritten or edited but those safeguards can easily be worked around. If you don't agree with it, the only way you would have any legal footing is to have a privacy statement on those drawings. 6 months later that same client submits your drawings to a third party that reuses your drawings for creating plans for a similar project elsewhere. Let's say you do a set of renovation drawings for a client. Technically, anyone's drawings can be misused. For example, designing new cars or campers.īut even for people that freelance as drafters in their spare time it is something to think about. Some smaller companies will use them when their designs involve closely-guarded industry secrets and/or when those drawings are the main reason the company is in business. Occasionally, the phrase "explicit consent" is involved. If you wanted to legally hold them accountable, the only way to have ANY legal footing is to have a legal/privacy statement on said drawings.įrom what I've seen, many larger companies/firms typically will use privacy statements to protect their designs and drawings from being used by others for unauthorized purposes. However, let's say someone from a different company re-uses your own designs/drawings without your knowledge. If you give someone permission to reuse your own drawings, that's one thing. Not so much to protect your drawings but to protect your company. IMO, privacy statements should ALWAYS be used on drawings. Whether or not your drawing is 1 sheet or 300 sheets, it will always be the intellectual property of your company or the company you work for. It is an important legal issue that should consider when it comes to protecting your long hours of hard work from misuse/reuse or other illegal activity. ![]() ![]() "Privacy Statements" on final CAD/drawings are kind of a grey area that isn't talked about much but it IS important. Sorry for the long caveat! I kind of went wild on this one. So, I have wanted to ask this to see what others felt about it. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |