Interior designs are also protected by copyright
In Taiwanese copyright laws, "reproducing" must be the replication of something in the same form as the original. For instance, if you made a copy of a book then this would be a reproduction of the same form. But if you turn a two dimensional draft into something three dimensional, then this would be an act of "execution" instead of reproducing, and would not constitute infringement of copyright. For example, if you really like an artist's painting and made a sculpture of it, you will not be violating the copyright of the original artist.
But when it comes to architectural copyright, in addition to the architecture itself, protection also covers architectural designs and building models. Which is why according to Taiwanese laws, building an architecture based on an existing design and/or model both constitute the offense of reproduction in architectural copyright laws.
In this case, the interior design and decorations of the Palais de Chine Hotel was completely replicated by a competitor, creating virtually identical rooms, sparking copyright controversies.
However, the plaintiff in this case was unable to prove the originality of the interior design of the rooms, making it impossible for the court to make a guilty ruling of copyright infringement.
Though the actions do not constitute copyright infringement, Palais de Chine may still pursue their rights through the Free Trade Act, in which Article 25 clearly states: "no enterprise shall otherwise have any deceptive or obviously unfair conduct that is able to affect trading order." The managing level of the defendant has previously checked into the Palais de Chine and brought over large groups of their employees in order to make measurements and take photos of the rooms, then subsequently 'developing' rooms that are identical to that of the plaintiff. The court ruled that the defendant has engaged in unfair competition and its actions is sufficient to affect the trading order. Hence the court ruled against the defendant's favor and the defendant was ordered to tear down all rooms with similar designs and never to use them again.
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