Triangle Residential Designs alleges South Designs copied Jungin Residence plans and removed CMI

The complaint

Triangle Residential Designs v. South Designs, Inc., and Henry King Construction, Inc., No. 4:26-cv-00245 (E.D.N.C., Western Division), was filed November 3, 2026, ECF No. 1 (6 pages). Triangle Residential Designs is described as a family-owned residential design firm in the Raleigh-Durham area, a sole proprietorship with its principal office in Raleigh, North Carolina. South Designs, Inc. is described as a North Carolina corporation with its principal office in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Henry King Construction, Inc. as a North Carolina corporation with a mailing address in Wake Forest. The docket record lists the case as assigned to Judge James C. Dever III. A docket minute entry on November 4, 2026, selected the case for mediation.

The work

The complaint says Triangle Residential Designs holds a copyright in architectural plans titled "Jungin Residence" (the "Jungin Plans"), registered as U.S. Copyright Registration No. VA 2-432-334, designed by the firm's owner and lead designer, and attaches the plans and registration as Exhibit A. The Copyright Office public record for Registration No. VA 2-432-334 shows an architectural work titled "Jungin Residence," created in 2023 and first published October 2, 2023, with a registration date of October 17, 2024, listing Triangle Residential Designs as author, as employer for hire, and as claimant. The complaint says the plans' copyright management information in page footers includes the year of publication 2022 and the copyright owner name Triangle Residential Designs.

What the complaint alleges

The complaint alleges that a client commissioned Triangle Residential Designs to prepare the Jungin Plans after discussions that began in or around April 2023, that the firm produced and reworked preliminary designs over the course of seven months, with the final preliminary design rendered on or around October 2, 2023, that the client later terminated the relationship, refused to pay, and commissioned South Designs to create plans for the project, and that Triangle Residential Designs never authorized use of the plans. It alleges that in or around early 2024 the firm learned Henry King Construction built a house in Cary, North Carolina, using copies of the Jungin Plans, that South Designs created the plans used for that house, and that those plans are a near identical match to the Jungin Plans, including labels and dimensions. It alleges the defendants had access to the Jungin Plans through the client. It further alleges that South Designs removed the copyright notice from the footer of each page of the detail sheets, and did so intentionally, knowing that it would conceal the infringement.

Claims and relief

Count I is copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501 against both defendants. Count II is removal and alteration of copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. § 1202 against South Designs. The prayer seeks actual and nominal damages; disgorgement of profits; statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. § 1203(c)(3)(B); costs and attorneys' fees pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a) and 17 U.S.C. § 1203(b)(5), as cited in the complaint; and other relief.