Protecting Design

Robert Trent Jones, Jr., who has been at the forefront of campaigning for copyright protection for golf design, shares some thoughts.  I understand that many architects have clauses in their contracts around how their names may be used (trademarks) and how their designs (copyright) may be used. We first licensed our designs to ‘Sim Golf’ nearly 30 years ago.  Since that time, we have had clients in other countries insist we exercise our rights to prevent poor simulations of their courses from appearing on digital platforms and we have worked with clients such as Chambers Bay and the USGA to help make games promoting the course and the 2015 US Open available to the public. In each one of these cases, success was defined by the owner and architect working together towards a common goal of making sure the golfer receives an authentic experience of the design. Because
the copyright law, in its current form, has been unclear in court cases, it is easily misconstrued and abused. This proposed clarification should enable the architects, owners and whomever may wish to license those designs to work through the commercial process more efficiently to the benefit of all.