Hi Folks: This is a subject colse to my heart, mostly because my entire family are artists and copyright can be a huge issue in the field, and also because I build websites and I often find my photos being stolen and used on other local websites by lazy ba****ds who can't be bothered to take their own. I don't bother chasing it up as it is too much hastle and life is too short, but it still irritates. Just a credit would be nice... But boatbuilding.....

In the end it is just easier to buy a set of plans off a designer than to try and copy an existing design. Provided the cost is not too exorbitant, who is going to go to the trouble of reinventing a specific wheel, with all of the error that is going to creep into the new boat, especially considering the time and effort that is going to go into the finished article?

To repair or adapt a fovorite existing boat, or one that has gone out of production, I can see the point of, but I personally cannot see the point in copying a mass produced boat in any case. It is always going to be cheaper, if time is indeed money, to just buy one.

Surely the whole point of building one's own it the opportunity to choose and build a boat that is "different" to the run of the mill, and that suits one's specific needs perfectly. The plethora of gorgeous designs available already make it somewhat redundant for part timers to bother with their own design efforts. Unless, of course, that is your passion and you are willing to accept the odd lemon.

I have never felt even the slightest feeling that any kayak designer's fees are too high. They tend to be so reasonable that I have often purchased a plan with a vague notion of "maybe building it one day".

A personal rule of thumb on the subject though. If I am going to borrow from someone else's efforts, then a change of deck shape or position of hatch etc, is not enough to call it your own design. In my opinion, if the below water hull shape is not substantially different, then you cannot call it a new design.

An example of the above would be my micro trimaran that some of you will have seen which was based on a CLC west river 180... Above the waterline it was radically different, but below it was unaltered. I checked with CLC regarding royalty. They kindly waived it and wished me luck. If I hadn't though, I couldn't really brag about the boat all over this bulliten board, definitely worth a few bucks.

I think though, that our community world-wide is so small, and so keen on keeping track of what is out there, that plagiarism would very quickly turn one's name to mud.

Et