Thomas Mitchell asks:

I know there have been a lot of requests for sites offering free
designs, and as much as I like to find free designs and use them, I'm
interested in learning how to protect designs/products. I wouldn't mind
offering plans to be used on a personal basis, but would hate to see an
original idea mass produced. Does anyone know what's involved in
protecting designs or products? I read a little about copyrights and I'm
not sure that copyright is applicable. Architectural works are covered,
but is a design of a piece of furniture, for example, an architectural
work? Under the not protected list on from
www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wwp is this inclusion :

"Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles,
discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description,
explanation, or illustration"


http://www.loc.gov/copyright/faq.html#q11

and

http://www.alankorn.com/articles/reg_copyright.html

Those might help. AFAIK, plans are copyrightable. Lord knows, the people I know
in the publishing business have gotten almighty upset when someone re-publishes
a plan without attribution or permission.

Charlie Self

"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this
century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this
century."
Dan Quayle