Re: [AH] Are Schematics Copyrighted?

From Andre Majorel
Sent Mon, May 14th 2018, 08:17

On 2018-05-12 03:22 +0300, steven watzon via analogue wrote:

> If I redraw a strobe lamp schematic from a book, is that
> copyrighted or for general public?

My understanding is that, while schematic diagrams are covered
by copyright, the circuits they represent aren't. So if a
schematic was drawn by you, you can distribute it without
breaking the law. The fact that someone else holds a copyright
on a different schematic representing the same circuit is
irrelevant, provided that your schematic is not similar enough
to be deemed a mere reproduction of it. Simply tracing the
original on tracing paper would probably be considered a
reproduction.

Not that I'm a solicitor or anything like that.

-- 
André Majorel http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/