A Massachusetts architectural firm has sued a competitor in South Dakota, accusing it of using the firm’s copyrighted designs in a planned upgrade to the University of South Dakota’s student center.
Charles Rose Architects of Somerville, Mass., contends that RSA Architects of Sioux Falls used its drawings and building plans for the Muenster University Center in Vermillion as a template for a 30,000-square-foot cafeteria addition that was scheduled to break ground this summer.
The Massachusetts firm filed a lawsuit last week in federal court in South Dakota. The lawsuit asks a jury to find that RSA Architects used the template in violation of federal copyright law. The firm seeks damages as well as any money paid to RSA for design work on the addition.
USD spokesman Phil Carter told the Argus Leader that no major work has commenced on the addition. He said the area has been fenced off, but nothing further has been done.
Carter declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Officials with RSA Architects did not immediately return messages to the newspaper for comment.
Sioux Falls lawyer Steve Johnson, who’s representing Charles Rose Architects, said there is little precedent in copyright law for infringement on a design, which makes the case unique. Few lawsuits of this nature have been opened and resolved, Johnson said.
He said this lawsuit could provide guidance in future architecture copyright disputes.
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