Protecting boat designs and plans?

I have a question for you, what about those boats that are designed to a box rule to which you are given a set of specifications where is the copyright there?

 

Just because you've designed to a rule doesn't mean you've released your protection under copyright. They are two distinctly different things.

 

I'm new to the board and I've been trying to find a discussion on this topic. I'm the research stage of possibly building a mahogany boat based on a mid-70s to early 80s fiberglass hull more spacifically a sleekcraft aristocrat a boat that's no longer in production but the company still in buisness. I planned on building one for myself but I might be persuaded to build more if there is enough enterest. Of course i'm not talking mass production. 15-20 if I live long enough. Wouldn't mind a little input on fiberglass to wood conflict or does design rights apply .

 

Does the copyright apply to the drawing(s) or the design represented thereby? In the art world copyright applies to the image or form, in the literature world it applies to the sequence of words, but a design is more than the lines on the page, isn't it? If the design itself is covered by the copyright then someone redrawing and marketing it could face litigation. Of course, even the slightest change puts the success of the litigation at risk. If the copyright just covers the document then a redraw gets around it.

What is the situation of someone recreating a classic boat, under the same name? As a paddler I can name the Wee Lassie by Rushton which was built in the 1880's but there are dozens of variations now, including versions that have been enlarged to accommodate the greater body mass of today's public, but they still go under the same name. I myself have a version that I might market (if I can build it). The Adirondack Museum sells plans for the original boat and presumably has the right to do so; the museum folk don't seem to pursue the commercial users of either the design or the name; at the price they charge for the plans it probably isn't worth it. Nonetheless, and unlike a lot of people, I am concerned about the ethics.