HOUSTON — A Harris County home design business is suing contractors, alleging breach of contract and copyright infringement.
Creole Designs LLC filed a lawsuit July 22 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas against Smith Family Homes LLC, Brickmoon Design LLC, Bradley Smith and Jeremy Dee McFarland, alleging violation of the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act.
According to the complaint, Creole Designs has suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable financial injury if the defendants are not enjoined from transferring or distributing profits derived from defendants’ use of the infringing plans.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants engaged in a civil conspiracy to infringe Creole Designs' copyright by making copies of and creating structures similar to the plaintiff’s architectural drawings and designs and also distributed copies of plaintiff’s copyrighted work.
Creole Designs seeks a trial by jury, damages, including all lost profits, an award of statutory damages, an injunction prohibiting the defendants from further infringing the plaintiff's copyrighted work, legal costs, attorney fees and such other relief to which it is entitled. It is represented by attorneys Jeffrey L. Dorrell and Matthew S.C. Hansel of Hanszen LaPorte in Houston.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case number 4:16-cv-02200