Work of architecture

A work of architecture is protected by copyright on two counts. Article L. 112-2 of the French Intellectual Property Code lists works of architecture among works of the mind, alongside works of drawing, painting and sculpture, and also covers plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relating to architecture. The building itself and the documents preparing it are therefore two distinct objects of protection, subject to the common condition of originality, which is assessed with particular attention to the constraints weighing on the architect.

The conditions of protection

The architect works under technical, regulatory, budgetary and functional constraints which restrict his or her freedom. Originality cannot lie in what those constraints impose, nor in a style or general architectural approach, but in the choices of composition, volumes, rhythm of the façades, materials or layout which express the author’s personality. The author is the architect, a natural person, or the architects who designed the work together, the architectural firm holding the rights only by assignment or by virtue of a collective work. The building owner, who defined the brief and financed the construction, is not a co-author.

Economic rights in the building

Article L. 122-3 IPC specifies that, for works of architecture, reproduction also consists in the repeated execution of a plan or standard design. Constructing a building from an architect’s plans without authorisation, as well as erecting a second identical building, falls within the reproduction right. Photographing and depicting the building are also reproductions, subject to the freedom of panorama exception in Article L. 122-5 IPC, which permits reproductions and depictions of architectural works and sculptures permanently located in public places, made by natural persons, to the exclusion of any commercial use. The architect’s services contract, which is a commission, transfers the rights to the building owner only if it contains a written assignment complying with Article L. 131-3 IPC.

The moral right and the owner of the building

The right of integrity is the main source of disputes. The owner of a building must be able to adapt it, extend it or bring it into compliance with standards. The Court of Cassation reconciles the two rights by holding that the utilitarian purpose of the building prevents the architect from imposing absolute inviolability, but that the owner may make only those modifications rendered strictly necessary by aesthetic, technical or safety requirements, and must neither exceed what is indispensable nor distort the work.

Key points

An original building and its plans are protected by copyright for the benefit of the architect, and the building owner acquires the rights only through a written assignment. The owner may modify the building for functional or safety reasons, to the extent strictly necessary and without distorting it. Before any works on a building designed by a named architect or any reuse of plans, the architect should be consulted and the terms of the contract checked.

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This glossary entry is general in scope and does not constitute legal advice.

Dhenne Avocats is a patent litigation firm. Matters outside that field, such as trade marks, designs, copyright and IT contracts, are handled by practitioners the firm works with regularly, and by the firm itself when they arise in a patent dispute.

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