Industry partners weigh in on the importance of copyright protection
MADCAD.com - Compu-tecture, Inc.
"In the building industry,
compliance with codes and standards is mandatory. Noncompliance creates
liabilities for both design professionals and owners.
MADCAD was established in 1995 with
the vision of providing a trustworthy online codes and standards library to
make code research and compliance easier for industry professionals. In order
to accomplish this, end-users have to trust that the content we provide is
accurate, and trust that we will continue to update content and keep it
accessible anytime, anywhere.
Our first priority was to sign
Content License Agreements with SDO's to rightfully distribute the content and
set the obligations. We then prepared End User Agreements to set their usage
rights and obligations, and secured patent to our technology. This allowed us
to create a trusted relationship between content providers, content users and
MADCAD.
We established a relationship with
the Code Council to make sure we receive content on time, then provided access
to them to review how their content was presented to end-users and worked to
ensure we were able to obtain our license at competitive rates. The Code
Council has also exhibited flexibility in assisting MADCAD with meeting the
specific needs and preferences of its clients. As an authorized licensee of the
Code Council, we are able to ensure the accuracy of the information we have
licensed and provide our clients with a service they know they can trust."
Pelin Atasoy, AIA, CEO
MADCAD.com - Compu-tecture, Inc.
Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International
“BOMA International is proud to be a strategic partner of the International Code Council. The association has been involved in ICC’s comprehensive code development process for many years to ensure we develop and manage a safe, secure, and efficient building stock. Having the forum and rigorous process in place where BOMA members, consultants and staff directly contribute to the development process ensures the resulting model codes are reflective of frontline experience, cutting edge technology and the latest in building science. As a result, we understand the importance and respect the need of protecting the copyrights of the model codes to ensure the financial resources are generated to support the critical system of development and adoption.”
John Bryant, Vice President, Advocacy, Codes & Standards
Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International
“The American Gas Association (AGA) has had a long association with the International Code Council (ICC) that began with the ICC formation in the 1990’s. AGA licenses a significant portion of the International Fuel Gas Code to the ICC, which is one of the complete series of model I-Codes that are available for adoption by federal, state and local jurisdictions. The purpose of the model I-Codes is to assist in helping to ensure the safety and energy efficiency of the built environment.
"AGA has been active and supportive of the ICC open and comprehensive model code development process for many years. The development of the I-Codes requires substantial financial resources to sustain the code development process and a major portion of those resources is provided by the sale of the model codes. It is therefore imperative to protect the ICC copyrights of the I-Codes to maintain the financial health of ICC to continue its model code development process at a level it requires and to that end, AGA is in support of the applicable ICC intellectual property rights.”
Jim Ranfone,
Managing Director, Building Codes & Standards
American Gas Association
Media Contact Information
Donna Campbell
Communications Director
Cell: (734) 660-6518
Email: dcampbell@iccsafe.org
