1304.1
Originality Requirement
To be original, a vessel design must be the result of the designer's creative endeavor providing a distinguishable variation over prior work, and that variation must be "more than merely trivial" and not "copied from another source." 17 U.S.C. § 1301(b)(1).
1304.2
Fixation Requirement
An original vessel design must be embodied in an actual vessel. The law does not protect vessel designs that exist only in models, drawings, or representations. See 17 U.S.C. § 1302(5).
1304.4 Registration Requirement and Making Public Requirement
An original vessel design is not protected until it is made public or until the U.S. Copyright Office publishes a registration for the design, whichever date is earlier.
If a design is made public, an application for registration must be filed no later than two years from the date on which the design was made public for the design to retain protection. 17 U.S.C. § 1302(5).
Making a design public includes publicly exhibiting it, distributing it, offering it for sale, or selling it to the public, whether inside or outside of the United States, with the design owner's consent.17 U.S.C. § 1310(b).
Vessel designs that have not been made public may be protected under Chapter 13 of Title 17, provided that the Office has registered the design.
1305 Ineligible Designs
1305.1 No Retroactive Protection
1304.3
Revision, Adaptation, or Rearrangement
Protection is available for a design that is a substantial revision, adaptation, or rearrangement of preexisting or ineligible design aspects or matter. Protection for a substantial revision, adaptation, or rearrangement does not extend to any subsisting protection in subject matter employed in the design. 17 U.S.C. § 1303.
Protection extends only to vessel designs made public on or after October 28, 1998, the effective date of the VHDPA. See 17 U.S.C. § 1332. The VHDPA does not protect designs made public before that date.
1305.2
Unoriginal Designs
Protection does not extend to any vessel design that is:
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