A common industry misconception is that a building design must be Frank Lloyd Wright-innovative to be copyrightable. Under the law, the level of detail and creativity required to be worthy of copyright protection is a relatively low bar; the standard benchmark is a mere dash of originality. That said, the sheer copyrightability of a building’s...
Marking an important change in U.S. intellectual property law and the construction industry, on December 1, 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (“AWCPA”), extending federal copyright protection to architectural works. Specifically, the AWCPA protects the nonfunctional, artistic features of original architectural designs represented in virtually any...
Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (“Court”) held that a public entity, the Orleans Parish School Board (“School Board”), had to promptly make the final payment of retainage to a Public Works contractor, Woodrow Wilson Construction, LLC (“Woodrow”), despite the fact that the School Board claimed it had a right to withhold liquidated damages from Woodrow per their contract (“Contract”). [Read More...]
The Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal and the Louisiana Supreme Court have been engaged in an extended “conversation” about the significance or the necessity of filing a statement of claim (“lien”) under the Louisiana Public Works Act, a conversation which is turning lien law as practiced for 30 years by Louisiana construction lawyers on...
In a recent appellate decision obtained by Shields | Mott L.L.P., the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal held that cancellation of a Louisiana Private Works Act lien was manifestly erroneous where a contractor met all proper lien requirements, particularly the requirement of reasonably itemizing the elements comprising its claim. In 225 Baronne Complex, LLC...
In the recent decision of 84 Lumber Company v. F.H. Paschen, S.N. Nielsen & Assocs., LLC, No. 12-1748, 2017 WL 467679 (E.D. La. Feb. 3, 2017), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana dismissed a general contractor’s claims against a project surety, holding that the contractor had not adequately pled satisfaction...
The case of Golden Nugget Lake Charles, L.L.C. v. W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Company, No. 16-30496, — F.3d — (5th Cir. 2017), 2017 WL 892407, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) held that, where a project owner never took affirmative action to file a notice of substantial completion,...
Sustainable design and construction (otherwise known as “Green Building”) is an evolving and growing sector of the building industry which presents new challenges and legal considerations for the owner (“Owner”), the architect (“Architect”), and the contractor (“Contractor”). [Read More...]
One recent decision, Ryan Gootee General Contractors, L.L.C. v. Plaquemines Parish School Board, 2015-0678 (La. App. 4 Cir. 11/18/15), 2015 WL 7356420, is a good reminder that where you file suit can just as easily doom your case as bad facts. In Gootee, the Plaquemines Parish School Board (“School Board”) issued an advertisement for bids...
