Question about standards used in drawings 4

[Moustafa Ahmed]

Hi everyone.

I'm thinking about starting to work independently, I used to work for a company for two years and now I have moved to another, my question is regarding standards, what is copyrighted and what is not? can I be inspired by the standards used by the company I used to work for? I'm talking about detailing and drafting standards, like the way they used to detail beams and schedules, naming conventions for drawings, etc. I'm not using the drawings and the design info themselves, those I know are copyrighted and I cannot use them (I don't have access to them anyway), I'm talking about the standard details. What I want to use is code standard details modified to be somewhat similar to the company details.

What about notes? are those subject to copyright as well?

If there is a problem with the things I mentioned, what are your recommendations? what can I use to start with?

 

[skeletron]

Notes: Companies copy clauses all the time. If you are cut&pasting verbatim, that's plagiarism and you shouldn't do that. If you are reading and thinking "that's a good clause to add in" or "that's something that I didn't consider" then type it out in your own words and use it. If you are reading and don't understand certain clauses, then don't add them in unless you can explain them to someone.


Detailing/Drafting: If you're copying details that are specific to a company, make them your own and be able to explain them if someone asks. If you're just adding them in because you've used them all the time and you want to bulk up your drawings, stop what you are doing.


I think it's a fine line between plagiarism and providing good design from your experience. But you should be able to explain every detail on your drawings if they are indeed your own.

 

[IRstuff]

It's pretty straightforward, though; any document that's in a tangible form is copyrighted, unless specifically stated otherwise, although originality plays into that. People may elect not to enforce their copyright, but one cannot depend on that.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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[spieng89]

Structural engineering design is not copyrighted...period...a shear tab schedule, base plate detail, etc. is not copyrighted, don't overthink this. Sheet notes are not copyrighted, it's based on engineering principles. How can someone claim plagiarism if a detail and/or note is based on engineering principles dictated by code or design guide? Only item that it under copyright law on a structural drawing is the company logo. Architectural design is a different animal and there is more concern in what is considered "design ownership".

 

[FACS]

How can someone claim plagiarism if a detail and/or note is based on engineering principles dictated by code or design guide?

That's my thought exactly.
I know you are talking structural here, but I open the ASME books, and find the standards for mechanical drawings. Then I list the source for those standards on the drawing so that others know what to look for .. as standards.

There is nothing sacred about following the rules we are given.

 

[phamENG]

The only thing I'd be worried about is if, on the way out, you copy all of your company's details onto a flash drive and then use those same CAD files in your independent work without permission.

Otherwise, imitate away. In my region, most of the structural firms all sprouted from the same big firm that collapsed back in the late 80s. Guess what? Nearly ALL of the typical details used in this region are identical. Some have been touched up as drafting standards and the capabilities of AutoCAD and Revit have expanded, but they're essentially the same.

 

[Moustafa Ahmed]

"The only thing I'd be worried about is if, on the way out, you copy all of your company's details onto a flash drive and then use those same CAD files in your independent work without permission."
No, I'm just inspired by their ideas, I don't have access to their files, someone has posted code details in a DWG format online (I don't know who, to be honest), I used those details but modified them as I see fit and to fit the drafting standard I'm willing to use.

Thanks to everyone for replying.

 

[Bernoulli31]

Project: major semiconductor fab A

Senior designer delivers his drawings to me for review, all proud of himself.

It doesn't take me 5 seconds to realize he copy pasted the design details from major semiconductor fab B, arch-nemesis of fab A. He even used the exact same spec code, used at fab B! Heck, the name of fab B was even listed in the notes!

He didn't last very much longer with us.




I design aqueducts in a parallel universe.

 

[Bernoulli31]

imitate away.

We call it "Steal with pride!"

I design aqueducts in a parallel universe.

 

[IRstuff]

he copy pasted the design details

LOL; I was once a TA for a graduate level IC design class where the students were tasked to design a simple logic IC chip. I got into the grading and had a few deja vu's and decided to delve into the layouts more closely and found FIVE students had identical chip layouts, which is almost impossible. The sixth actually changed up a few things like contact placements, but the transistor layouts and routings were still the same. So, they all got F's for their final project, but I never found out whether they got booted or not, since they were paying for a full price graduate program.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[fel3]

"Borrowing" happens in lots of fields:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4vWJbwmqM

(Tom Lehrer, "Lobachevsky")

============
"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill

 

[debodine]

When I was with an operational freighter airline, rather than with an engineering design house where I am now (and have been for most of my career), we had a Director of Engineering who would say that everything we need to maintain a freighter fleet had already been done before. Just find that data and "reference" it. He was dead set against re-inventing the wheel. From our company's perspective, he was right on target. Our CEO once stated that we do NOT want to be on the "bleeding edge of technology".

 

[Moustafa Ahmed]

As people stated, you cannot be stealing a text in a detail, saying that's top rebar and it extend to length stated by code in a dimension, there is no innovation here. Almost everyone will use similar details, I just feel like their way of detailing it makes more sense than others, that is why I want to follow their way.