Design Basics, LLC, Plaintiff v. Forrester Wehrle Homes, Inc., et al., Defendants, 302 F. Supp. 3d 933

Summary

HOLDINGS: [1]-In a home designer's copyright infringement action against a home builder, pursuant to 17 U.S.C.S. § 101, the builder was not entitled to summary judgment on the issue of substantial similarity because copyright law protected the arrangements of standard elements for which the designer sought protection, including the overall form of the homes, the arrangement and composition of spaces and elements, and the nature and quantity of the rooms and elements; the opinion of the builder's expert was insufficient to establish that any reasonable juror would conclude that the designer's works contained no protected expression; and a reasonable jury could easily conclude that the designs were substantially similar.