Can I legally digitalise a house design?
<p>I want to use modelling software to create some buildings. I've found a building that I like on Google. Would re-creating the design of the building be illegal?</p>

<p>It might be a copyright violation.  <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/102" rel="nofollow noreferrer">17 U.S. Code § 102 - Subject matter of copyright: In general</a> says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following categories: ...<br>
  (8) architectural works.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So, the architectural work itself is likely copyrighted.  (Unless it's not for some reason - if it's from before 1923, for example, any copyright is likely expired.)  </p>

<p>And what exactly is an architectural work?  The law defines that <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/101" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>An “architectural work” is the design of a building as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings. The work includes the overall form as well as the arrangement and composition of spaces and elements in the design, but does not include individual standard features</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There's one special <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/120" rel="nofollow noreferrer">exception</a> to copyright that applies to architectural works in particular:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The copyright in an architectural work that has been constructed does not include the right to prevent the making, distributing, or public display of pictures, paintings, photographs, or other pictorial representations of the work, if the building in which the work is embodied is located in or ordinarily visible from a public place.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So you could legally make a drawing of the building, assuming it's visible to the public.  But it seems like you're doing more than that.</p>

copyright