Are blueprints of public buildings public under the CPRA?

Answer

Unfortunately, it may be that the electrical building plans you wish to copy are, indeed, protected under copyright law, and as such, the City does not have to provide you with the copies that you seek.

The Attorney General has stated:

“We believe it is clear that the Legislature in enacting the California Public Records Act did not intend it to be used in a manner which would constitute a copyright infringement. We note that the Act itself expressly exempts from disclosure records the disclosure of which would be prohibited by federal law. (Gov. Code, § 6254, subsection k.) The Act does not address the issue of reproducing records, the reproduction of which is prohibited by federal law.” 64 Cal. Op. Att’y Gen. 186 (1981).

Copyright law is federal.  The Federal Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C.A. §§ 101 et. seq., “exclusively governs all works that are subject to copyright under federal law, and preempts all state legal claims to ownership or infringement on use of such materials. Accordingly, the rights of the parties in architectural and engineering plans and similar materials are now subject to the Federal Copyright Act.” (10 Miller & Starr, Cal. Real Estate (3d ed. 2010) Ownership and copyright of plans and specifications, § 27:111). 

The Federal Copyright Act (17 U.S.C.A. § 301) specifically preempts state law:

“An ‘architectural work’ is the design of a building as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings…” 17 U.S.C.A. § 101.  “[T]he owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: (1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies…” 17 U.S.C.A. § 106.

“Since architectural plans and other construction drawings and specifications necessarily must be filed with governmental offices in order to obtain permits and approvals, the deposit of such drawings with the public authority ordinarily is not ‘publication’ and neither the filing or processing of the drawings results in a loss of the copyright interest.”  (10 Miller & Starr, Cal. Real Estate (3d ed. 2010) Ownership and copyright of plans and specifications, § 27:111); See John G. Danielson, Inc. v. Winchester-Conant Properties, Inc., 322 F.3d 26, 36 (1st Cir. 2003).
There appears to be a way to obtain copies of official plans from the county’s building department once a building permit is issued pursuant to California Health & Safety Code, by requesting permission from the engineer. 

Cal. Health & Safety Code § 19850 requires:
“[t]he building department of every city or county shall maintain an official copy…of the plans of every building, during the life of the building, for which the department issued a building permit.” 

“The official copy of the plans maintained by the building department of the city or county…shall be open for inspection only on the premises of the building department as a public record. The copy may not be duplicated in whole or in part except
(1) with the written permission, which permission shall not be unreasonably withheld as specified in subdivision (f), of the certified, licensed or registered professional or his or her successor, if any, who signed the original documents and the written permission of the original or current owner of the building, or, if the building is part of a common interest development, with the written permission of the board of directors or governing body of the association established to manage the common interest development, or
(2) by order of a proper court or upon the request of any state agency.”  Cal. Health & Safety Code § 19851(a). 
“Any building department of a city or county, which is requested to duplicate the official copy of the plans maintained by the building department, shall request written permission to do so from the certified, licensed, or registered professional, or his or
her successor, if any, who signed the original documents and from
(1) the original or current owner of the building or
(2), if the building is part of a common interest development, from the board of directors or other governing body of the association established to manage the common interest development.”  Id. at § 19851(b).

Here, I suspect the electrical building plans of a City building may have been designed by a certified registered professional, however, even if they were not, you may still be required to get written permission from the original or current owner of the building to copy the plans.  Cal. Health & Safety Code § 19851(a).  However, “permission shall not be unreasonably withheld.”
Id.

I invite you to look at Health and Safety Code § 19851 and 17 U.S.C.A. §§ 101 et. seq. for more information.

Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation.