A bit more information about Copyright
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works
Signatories to the Berne Convention includes the following per:
http://www.copyrightaid.co.uk/copyright_information/berne_convention_signatories
(While Green Bay has yet to sign on t'would seem, USA has Richard.)
Objectively yours,
Derek
Thanks!
JB - Meeting with Copyright Attorney TTT
The surveyor that I was speaking about the other day is unwilling to give me any information concerning his past case. Apparently (if I read between the lines) there was some type of settlement or stipulation that requires that the details of the case be kept silent.
Regardless, if I recall the information that was being presented at the time (that I was privy to) the facts were twofold; that realtors and title companies were using and copying surveys for marketing and risk evaluation.
Original stamped & signed surveys could be handed off between parties and transferred between parties but when there was an un-authorized copy of the survey copyright infringement occurs. Also the fact that we are a recording state does not give permission to the public to copy our work. Any person who copies a survey is violating federal copyright, even if the survey is on file with county clerk. The example that helps prove the point is that written works or maps that are in a public library can not be copied.
Also, a survey or map needs not be on file with the federal copyright office to enjoy the benefits of Copyright protection.
6th
I try not to get involved in these discussions about copyright and reliance on surveys by parties other than the original client because it is a foreign concept to me, being in the recording state of CA, that surveys are only good for one-time use.
Now, you in the recording state of Colorado are saying that a recorded survey on file with the County Clerk can't be copied because of copyright issues? I must not be understanding you correctly. In my understanding, the purpose of recording surveys is to make them available to the public in perpetuity. The survey is a representation of the surveyor's findings as of the date of the survey. If somebody builds something after the survey is filed or changes the boundary somehow, that can be dealt with as needed, but why would we go to the trouble of recording surveys if they can never be copied or used again?
Steve - Copyright
> If somebody builds something after the survey is filed or changes the boundary somehow, that can be dealt with as needed, but why would we go to the trouble of recording surveys if they can never be copied or used again?
Hey, I'm not arguing with you, I'm just telling what others have indicated what the law says. In fact there is a very strong argument that unauthorized reproduction of a land surveyors work is if fact a direct violation of copyright infringement, per se
Recording surveys does not squash nor eliminate copyright protection.
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BTW - Why is this thread classified as non-surveying?