Something looks vaguely familiar. Is it the arrangement of the rooms as you walk into this new model home? Yes, the family room is in the same place, the entry curves the same way, the kitchen is almost identical to another new home you've seen before. But you shrug this feeling off and head upstairs. Now it's overwhelming. Although the decorating is different than you remember, there's no doubt that all the bedrooms are in exactly the same places and the bathrooms too! This is the same house you saw across town at another builder's model complex! Can they do that?

They might be able to, but it wouldn't be wise. It has been almost ten years since federal copyright laws were tightened to include not only original plans and working drawings, but built structures as well. Homebuilders now have become more aware of how to guard their most popular homes from becoming another builder's knock-offs.

House plans, just like a written document, are protected under copyright law when they are completed, but experts advise builders to file them with the Library of Congress's Register of Copyrights office. Doing so will certainly increase their chances of being able to stand up to and successfully recover monetary damages for infringement of their designs. This is when that handy little "c" with the circle around it and the builder's name next to it comes in handy. It should appear wherever the builder's plans do; on sales literature, or model home office displays and in advertising.

New homebuilders can fight knock-offs by pursuing copyright infringement, winning damages not only for the plans themselves, but also for the lost revenue they may have experienced due to this unfair competitive practice. Many builders do not even realize how much protection is out there for them, if only they were willing to do a bit of research.

Even a home whose floor plan has been slightly changed is not safe from copyright laws. What matters is where the original plan came from, not what has been done to it. Builders trying to protect themselves from lawsuits should never set out to build from any house plans that have not already been copyrighted by their designer.

So, next time a new home looks eerily familiar to you, you may want to stop for a moment and ask "Will the original builder please stand up?" and bring this phenomenon to the attention of the new home sales person. Some heads just may begin to roll. Unless of course, you've just visited the builder who "borrowed" the plan from a competitor!

For more information on copyright law, you may call the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. at (202) 707-3000.

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