Mealey's ( August 25, 2026, 2:11 PM EDT) -- NEW ORLEANS — In an opinion that a split Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said involved multiple questions of first impression regarding the application of the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (AWCPA) and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and a “thorny” question of appellate jurisdiction, the judge that wrote the majority opinion said that a section of the AWCPA does not reach copyrights in architectural plans as pictorial, graphic and sculptural works and could not support a Texas federal judge’s dismissal of an architectural firm’s architectural-work claims when the complaint did not establish that the challenged uses occurred after construction....