Protecting the Greens: How the BIRDIE Act Could Revolutionize Golf Course Design and Copyright Law

If you’re a golfer, you know that a great golf course is a work of art. Nothing compares to the views on a golf course: the perfect, sloping fairways, tricky bunkers, and just the right number of trees to make it a challenge. A new federal bill aims to protect these designs by “teeing” them up as architectural works. Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) recently introduced H.R. 7228, the “Bolstering Intellectual Rights Against Digital Infringement Enhancement Act,” better known as the BIRDIE Act.

The BIRDIE Act’s goal is to expand the copyright protection provided to architectural works to include golf courses, particularly in the face of the growing industries of virtual reality and golf simulators. Professional golfers, amateurs, and lovers of the game have all made use of these new tools to practice or even to experience one of the most famous courses in the world. The expansion of such an industry, while useful and exciting, may be infringing on the rights of the course creators and their associated branding.

The Act

The bill proposes to amend the definition of “architectural works” in Section 101 of the Copyright Act to include the “design of a course on which golf is played (except for any course on which mini golf, or other similar game, is played).” Additionally, the bill aims to include the features associated with golf courses: landscaping, irrigation systems, bunkers, greens, paths, tees, topographic features, etc.

The provisions of the act would apply to courses created on or after December 1, 1990, in addition to unconstructed works in plans or drawings as of the same date. While several iconic golf courses like Augusta National, Pebble Beach, and Pinehurst were built prior to 1990, most courses have undergone renovations that would now qualify them for protection under the BIRDIE Act, if enacted. Accordingly, both existing and future golf courses would be protected from unauthorized replication.

The Implications

U.S. Copyright law was amended in 1990 to include architectural works, such as the design of buildings. As such, the amendment recognized the artistry, intellect, and creative efforts that go into architectural design. While virtual reality and golf simulators are relatively new, the impacts of AI technology threaten to negatively impact creators or golf clubs who have not consented to the use of their designs in another medium.

The broader implications of copyright protection should this bill become law are unknown, but with the steady expansion of AI, who’s to say it wouldn’t throw the game of golf into further chaos? Furthermore, with virtual reality being put into use in other sports, such as baseball, can copyright law be used to protect the designs of ballparks, football stadiums, and basketball arenas? Are those buildings meant to be protected as “original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression” under U.S. Copyright Law? (17 U.S.C. § 102(a)). We’ll keep track as the bill works through the system – only time will tell what the implications may be.