Schematic copyright

[Derek Smith]

Schematic copyright

I’ve got a couple of books which include copyright for publication but neither is clear on the subject I need.

Obviously a wiring diagram for a car is copyright as an image in the same way any image is.

However, how about creating an original technical drawing with just the information from a produced drawing? Whilst that is not something I intend to do if in that case there would be no infringement it would clear up my specific query. Which is:

I want to produce wiring diagrams of individual switches, such as the starter switch, the exterior lights, etc. Would these be copyrighted?

Derek

[TooMany2cvs]

If you draw it, then your drawing is your copyright.
If you crop down their diagram, then it's still their diagram so their copyright.

[motco]

TooMany2cvs said:

If you draw it, then your drawing is your copyright.
If you crop down their diagram, then it's still their diagram so their copyright.

But the OP intends to re-draw it. The intellectual property remains the same but the physical image doesn't. Nice point!

[Foliage]

This falls under fair use (fair dealing), I do it all the time. As you are only using a part of it and commenting/adding too it.

Edited by Foliage on Wednesday 4th April 13:32

[ElectricPics]

If you're just using your new drawings for personal use then there's no real copyright issue. If you intend to further distribute or use your copies for business then fair use doesn't apply - it's intended for incidental use in reporting, criticism, etc.

Comprehensive information here... https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p27_w...

[Derek Smith]

ElectricPics said:

If you're just using your new drawings for personal use then there's no real copyright issue. If you intend to further distribute or use your copies for business then fair use doesn't apply - it's intended for incidental use in reporting, criticism, etc.

Comprehensive information here... https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p27_w...

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I read the link above and I came out of it no more enlightened.

Let's take a switch. It has three positions: off, left and right. On the wiring diagram the switch is shown fitted into a wiring diagram of the whole vehicle. If I draw my own diagram of the switch, which will bear a certain similarity to the one in the diagram - rectangular outline, circles for connections, lines for wires, but is not a copy of the image - then would I be in the clear?

If so, then the problem I have, and is not clarified in the explanation, is at what stage does copyright come in between the single switch and the whole diagram?

I get irritated by my copy being copied and pasted on other websites so it is only right that I should not encroach on that of others. However, if someone wants to rewrite my copy (and render it less informative and entertaining) then I accept they have that right.

As an explanation; I find I have little use for a wiring diagram of the whole car. All I need is a diagram of the switch with the source and destination of the various wires. This is what I want to draw and publish.

I know it is not a simple question. My problem is that I'm a simple man.

[4x4Tyke]

Derek Smith said:

Schematic copyright

I’ve got a couple of books which include copyright for publication but neither is clear on the subject I need.

Obviously a wiring diagram for a car is copyright as an image in the same way any image is.

However, how about creating an original technical drawing with just the information from a produced drawing? Whilst that is not something I intend to do if in that case there would be no infringement it would clear up my specific query. Which is:

I want to produce wiring diagrams of individual switches, such as the starter switch, the exterior lights, etc. Would these be copyrighted?

Derek

You are correct that you can produce new diagrams without violating the original copyright.

Any diagrams you produce of the circuit, would see the copyright owned by you.

If you want to, you could choose to use a creative common licence to allow other to use your work, but you would still hold the copyright.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

[ElectricPics]

Derek Smith said:

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I read the link above and I came out of it no more enlightened.

Let's take a switch. It has three positions: off, left and right. On the wiring diagram the switch is shown fitted into a wiring diagram of the whole vehicle. If I draw my own diagram of the switch, which will bear a certain similarity to the one in the diagram - rectangular outline, circles for connections, lines for wires, but is not a copy of the image - then would I be in the clear?

If so, then the problem I have, and is not clarified in the explanation, is at what stage does copyright come in between the single switch and the whole diagram?

I get irritated by my copy being copied and pasted on other websites so it is only right that I should not encroach on that of others. However, if someone wants to rewrite my copy (and render it less informative and entertaining) then I accept they have that right.

As an explanation; I find I have little use for a wiring diagram of the whole car. All I need is a diagram of the switch with the source and destination of the various wires. This is what I want to draw and publish.

I know it is not a simple question. My problem is that I'm a simple man.

I'm a photographer so copyright protection is very important in my line of work. Copyright is present in all intellectual property so you'll never get round that. But, my answer to Let's take a switch. It has three positions: off, left and right. On the wiring diagram the switch is shown fitted into a wiring diagram of the whole vehicle. If I draw my own diagram of the switch, which will bear a certain similarity to the one in the diagram - rectangular outline, circles for connections, lines for wires, but is not a copy of the image - then would I be in the clear? would be yes, because you'll only be using the original drawing for guidance. Electrical wiring symbols are universal so they'll be the same anyway. If I slavishly took a photograph setting out to deliberately reproduce someone else's photograph, or part of it, that could be construed as a copyright infringement, but if I took a photograph of the same thing, but in a different way, maybe with different lighting, that would be an original work. Hope that's clearer than mud!

[Toltec]

I'd look at it another way, is the manner in which the switch is wired a proprietary design patented by the manufacturer or could you easily point to several manufacturers cars that are wired in a similar manner? If you have drawn up a diagram yourself of how a switch is wired in to a specific car, but in a way that is commonly used I doubt there would be grounds for a copyright issue.

[ghe13rte]

Derek Smith said:

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I read the link above and I came out of it no more enlightened.

Let's take a switch. It has three positions: off, left and right. On the wiring diagram the switch is shown fitted into a wiring diagram of the whole vehicle. If I draw my own diagram of the switch, which will bear a certain similarity to the one in the diagram - rectangular outline, circles for connections, lines for wires, but is not a copy of the image - then would I be in the clear?

If so, then the problem I have, and is not clarified in the explanation, is at what stage does copyright come in between the single switch and the whole diagram?

I get irritated by my copy being copied and pasted on other websites so it is only right that I should not encroach on that of others. However, if someone wants to rewrite my copy (and render it less informative and entertaining) then I accept they have that right.

As an explanation; I find I have little use for a wiring diagram of the whole car. All I need is a diagram of the switch with the source and destination of the various wires. This is what I want to draw and publish.

I know it is not a simple question. My problem is that I'm a simple man.

why not use a standard symbol?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_symbol

[Derek Smith]

Thanks again.

I've just got an email from a friend who is a compliance lawyer.

The problem is not being in the wrong but being sueable. The cheaper option is often to pay up.

The question is whether the information I am putting onto the diagram is available by other means, such as looking at the back of the switch. If so then no copyright holder or lawyer would bother with me as the case would, most likely, be thrown out at an early stage. Such matter is not copyright as, as said above, much is common.

The wiring diagram I am talking about was published by a company that went broke, was bought out a couple of times and now produces no similar matter. No one is likely to be bothered even if I published the whole wiring diagram.

A wiring diagram, if that's the phrase, of a circuit board is often/normally copyright and should only be touched with permission.

However, typically lawyerally, I'm told that I should check with a specialist lawyer.

So it seems that if I can readily get the information via other means then it is ok. An analogy is a map showing one's house where adjacent streets are shown. Take photograph of Ordnance Survey and there's a problem. Go outside and read the street names and you are in the clear.

So I'll publish switches which I have drawn myself. They will not be shown as part of a wiring diagram, even one of my own creation.

[ghe13rte]

here you go:

[PhilboSE]

Derek Smith said:

Schematic copyright

I’ve got a couple of books which include copyright for publication but neither is clear on the subject I need.

Obviously a wiring diagram for a car is copyright as an image in the same way any image is.

However, how about creating an original technical drawing with just the information from a produced drawing? Whilst that is not something I intend to do if in that case there would be no infringement it would clear up my specific query. Which is:

I want to produce wiring diagrams of individual switches, such as the starter switch, the exterior lights, etc. Would these be copyrighted?

Derek

Copyright also covers "derivative works" (and "performances", but these are generally intended for the arts).

If you were to create your own drawings, but done by copying from a source, then that is a derivative work and infringes the copyright.

But if you (say) reverse engineer the wiring schematic by your own physical observations, without recourse to a diagram, then that would be OK.