This is a little off topic but anyone out there know about the Vessel Hull Design Copyright law. Since joining a kayak firm I have been shocked to find out how prevalent “splashing” molds off of existing boats is. In eastern Europe here are more illegal copies of our Hawk and Eagle model than real boats. Also there are numerous boats that are clearly copies with minor changes being sold as original designs.

My understanding of the law is that by registering an existing design you have immediate copyright protection (unlike patenting which can take years to take effect). My question is can US copyright laws be enforced in foreign countries. My assumption is that some trade agreements call for reciprocity of copyrights but can anyone shed some light on how this works in practice. I also know that countries like China have whole factories devoted to illegal copying of Microsoft software.

Do we have any IP lawyers out there willing to help out a fellow builder.

Regards,

Jack