copyright fair-use construction-law
What constitutes &quot;fair use&quot; when using or modifying a CAD, architectural drawing
<p>I'm planning, and doing a write-up for a low voltage systems installation instructions for a new building in California (in case that's relevant ). I was given CAD drawing by the building owner, so I could overlay the system our technicians are installing. I'm striping out most of the information except for a skeleton of the building, conduit locations, and a few components that our system will interface with. Since the CAD drawing were produced by a third party architectural firm, how can I use parts of the drawing to draw up installation plans for my system? The drawings do have a copyright statement that references California Assembly Bill 701, but I'm not sure what usually constitutes "fair use" in these situations.
Also if its relevant, me and my crew work for the entity that owns the building.  The documents that I produce or reproduce are for internal use only.</p>

<h2>Your use is likely authorised</h2>

<p>Under the client’s contract with the architect, they will have a licence to use the the drawings for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, modifying and ultimately demolishing the building. This is likely explicit but even if it isn’t the court would almost certainly find an implicit licence. It’s also possible that the contract transferred the copyright to the owner explicitly.</p>

<p>By providing them to you, knowing what you were going to do with them, they have granted you a licence to do that.</p>

<h2>Notwithstanding, your use is likely <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fair use</a></h2>

<p>Given   the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work and
the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work, fair use is virtually a slam dunk.</p>
