The installation season is once again upon us, and with that, the development of system designs and information pertaining to specific sites and clients.

Each year, the association receives member reports of copyright infringement. What does that mean? Basically, a designer or contractor has designed an onsite wastewater system for a client and has then found that the design was used on another site, without the designer’s permission.

The appropriation of a system design or report brings up ethical questions as well as the considerations below:

1. Under the Alberta Standard of Practice, system design must be specific to the property that it serves, so from a technical standpoint, the system designed for one property, may not be appropriate for a different property.
2. The system design is owned by two parties: a) the designer (even once the designer has been paid for their work, the ownership of the intellectual property remains with the designer), and b) the client, either another contractor or the owner of the property.
3. The use of someone else’s work without permission is a breach of the AOWMA’s Code of Conduct for members.

In order to protect their intellectual property, those designing systems should be copyrighting their work. The design report should state clearly who owns the copyright for the design or report, as well as who may use the design or report. Consultation with a lawyer specializing in copyright law can help you understand the importance of copyrighting your work and the limitations surrounding the use of other people’s copyrighted work.

Copyrighting work is not a difficult process. Additional information on how to copyright your work, is available at https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr00003.html