This page contains resources for Texas land surveyors to utilize when copyrighting land surveying products.

View a 2001 letter to TSPS members from copyright attorney Eric B. Meyertons HERE.

The following is a Copyright step-by-step resource for land surveyors, created by Robert Barcomb, RPLS #4772. For more information regarding copyright and land surveying documents and products, contact TSPS legal counsel Mark Hanna at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Sample Front Cover - (Word doc)

Sample Index - (Word doc)

Sample Transmittal Letter - (Word doc)

U.S. Copyright Office (VA Form) - http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formva.pdf
(VA Form with instructions) - http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formvai.pdf
______________

The following is the step-by-step procedure for registering a group of surveys with the United States Copyright Office:

(1)   A copyright notice must appear on each survey plat. The following notice is recommended

(2)   Prepare a black and white photocopy of each survey plat prior to signing and/or sealing for the calendar quarter (i.e., January – March, etc.) on standard 8½" x 14" paper in chronological sequence.

(3)   Prepare an Index listing each survey plat. The Index will be placed behind the Front Cover proceeding the compilation of survey plats. The Index must include its title (Index) and two columns entitled "Date" and "Drawing Name".

The "Date" column will list in chronological sequence the date that each original survey plat was signed by the RPLS. The "Drawing Name" column will list an abbreviated Legal Description for each survey plat. View here a sample Index.

Prepare a Front Cover for the compilation. The Front Cover must include the name of the surveyor (if a sole proprietor) or the name of the surveying company (if not a sole proprietorship) and a description of the survey plats being submitted for registration (i.e., First Quarter 2002). It is recommended that card stock be used for the Front Cover and the last page of the Compilation (back cover). View this sample Front Cover.

(5)   Place the documents in this order:

A.   Front Cover
B.   Index
C.   Black and White Photocopies of Survey Plats
D.   Back Cover

(6)   Take the documents to a copying and duplicating service and have two bound sets prepared using "velo binding" (11" is standard, 14" may be special order). Approximate cost for 225 pages is $2.60 per set.

(7)   Obtain Form VA from the United States Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov. Complete and sign the Form. A completed sample Form VA is attached.

(8)   Prepare a check or money order for the nonrefundable filing fee in the amount of $30.00 payable to "Register of Copyrights".

(9)   Prepare a Transmittal Letter which will accompany the documents to be filed with the US Copyright Office. View this sample Transmittal Letter.

(10)  Mail via certified mail/return receipt requested the completed and signed Form VA, the $30.00 filing fee (note - fees may have changed since this guide was created), one copy of the bound set of survey plats (which includes the Front Cover and Index) and the Transmittal Letter to:


(11)  Retain the second set of bound survey plats for your files. You should receive a "Certificate of Registration" back from the US Copyright Office within 90-180 days.

(12)  Repeat this procedure for each subsequent calendar quarter.

(13)  If you have questions regarding this step-by-step procedure, contact: TSPS legal counsel Mark Hanna at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

COURSE & SPEAKER DEVELOPMENT

Course & Speaker Development Subcommittee: Sub-Committee Chair, Craig Alderman

The 2010 Symposium attracted 127 attendees to Abilene where nine courses were presented. Three of the new courses that were presented were a product of the course development process. In 2010 the committee introduced a panel discussion entitled “Surveying Mineral Interests in Texas, Asset or Liability”. This was a timely and geographically pertinent discussion
To date 77 TSPS members have participated in Course Development Training and 40 TSPS members have participated in Speaker Development training.  Fred Crawford and Shannan Carrozza have continued to facilitate CDW tirelessly and have polished their presentation for member trainees to allow TSPS to produce a better educational opportunity for the membership. Craig Alderman chaired the sub-committee administration during 2009-2010. In February the committee successfully met to draft a curriculum and three-year plan for course development. The committee also developed a Course and Speaker Policy to be approved by the Executive Committee.
Currently the following courses are being developed for the Spring Symposium to be held in San Marcos Texas in early February.

Topographic Surveys by George Forbis-Stokes. (Adopted by Chapter 10)
Math 301 by John Barnard, Dave Klotz, Jason Ward and Joe Webber. (Chapter 13)
Abstract and Research by Butch Evans, Trisha Lund, Javier Ruiz and Chester Varner (Chapters 11, 24)
The Act and Rules by Joe Breaux, Paul Carey and Shane Isbell.  (Chapters 6, 11, 24)
The Texas Coordinate System by Josh Burge, Jim Gillis, John Null. (Chapter 2)
Ethics by Robby Christopher. Chapter 1 (This is an existing course developed by Fred Crawford. Robby will be using a Facilitator’s Guide which will help him present the course in a way consistent to how the author intended) The Facilitator’s Guide is what keeps the “Chapter Ready” courses up to TSPS standards.

In addition Craig Alderman has been assisting the Amarillo Chapter in crafting a West Texas Boundary Retracement Event of the LIT Ranch for 2011. We are planning our first “monument recovery” trip on September 25th.

The hard work and dedication of Fred Crawford, Shannan Carrozza and the course developer over the past couple of years has begun to pay off. “Chapter Ready” status being giving to a least four courses this year which means they are completed and available to chapters for local seminars. The courses being development now are on tract for completion at 2011 Symposium and will be very popular courses for future use. This is going to be one of the best offering of course we have had for Symposium and we look forward to the feedback from our members.

The committee plans to develop three courses for the 2012 Symposium

1.    Basic GIS: We will run the existing Basic GIS back thru the CDW and redevelop it as the foundation for a GIS Curriculum, which we will continue to develop year to year. To be developed by the GIS Committee.
2.    Survey Economics: To be developed by James Redmon.
3.    Professionalism:  We are still looking for a team to develop this course, we would like to have a mix of rookies and veterans to bridge the gap of the public’s perception of what is a “Professional”

We are planning a Speaker Development Workshop in January 2011 to sharpen the presentation skills of the 2011 Symposium presenters.

Respectfully submitted by R. Craig Alderman

CST SUB-COMMITTEE

Committee Charge: Certified Surveying Technician Committee – Joe D. Webber, Jr., Chair, Promote, educate and design ways to encourage individuals who are Para-Professionals in the surveying community to prepare themselves to successfully become Certified Surveying Technicians.
CST Exams:
The last exam was held at the Lone Star College, Montgomery, Tx this past month
CST Exam Locations:
I spoke to Paul Easley at PBS&J in Austin and John Pierce in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and they both agreed that they could conduct exams in these areas and would work with TSPS to assist the program and future exam dates as needed.

Respectfully submitted,
CST Sub-Committee Chair

EDUCATION COMMITTEE
(.doc copy of annual report)

RPLS/SIT STUDY GROUPS

For several years now, RPLS and SIT candidates have participated in multiple local, unassociated study groups in different cities to help them prepare for their respective exams.  The goals of this committee as established at its first meeting on June 5, 2010 are as follows:

1.    Create, develop and institute a comprehensive plan to provide bi-weekly Study Group sessions starting two months prior to the semi-annual SIT and RPLS certification/license exams.
2.    Convene meetings with other Chapter Study Group Leaders to exchange study materials and resources at each quarterly meeting.
3.    Make use of web-based, electronic correspondence, and conferencing to include as many potential TSPS Member candidates as can be comfortably accommodated.
4.    Forward annual budget requests to the Education Committee Chair, Education Division Chair and the TSPS Executive Director prior to December 31, of each year.

COMMITTEE PROGRESS TO DATE

Centralization has been slow to occur, but the local study groups have continued to prepare candidates for testing as follows:

1.    The Houston group, led by Billy Wolfram, has an average of 12 attendees at its biweekly Saturday meeting which started on August 14.  The RPLS group works though analytical problems while the SIT group works problems from the NCEES practice exam and the FS study guide.
2.    The Austin group, led by Greg Schmidt, has 5-8 attendees at its weekly Wednesday evening meetings.  The RPLS group works though analytical problems which sometime lead to discussions of specific boundary law components.  This group does not have an SIT component.
3.    The San Antonio group, led by Butch Evans, has 3-4 prospective attendees and has coordinated with the other groups for guidance.  Their meetings are scheduled to start the last week of September.
4.    The Dallas group, led by Jason Jernigan, has an average of 12 attendees at its biweekly Saturday meetings which started on September 11.  The RPLS group works though analytical problems while the SIT group works problems from the CST review exams and various surveying texts.

THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF THIS SUBCOMMITTEE GOING FORWARD IS TO COMMUNICATE AND POOL RESOURCES MORE EFFECTIVELY BETWEEN THE VARIOUS LOCAL GROUPS.

Respectfully submitted,
Jason A. Jernigan

SEMINARS & SYMPOSIUM SUB-COMMITTEE
(pdf copy of report)

SkillsUSA SUB-COMMITTEE

Committee Charge: Prepare, schedule and organize subcommittee meetings.  Prepare and submit committee reports to the Education Committee chair in time to be included in the quarterly board books.  Foster relationships with Texas Skills USA leaders to help promote the surveying profession.  Communicate with any SkillsUSA high school programs and encourage new programs. Keep the TSPS board of directors updated on the high school surveying programs and any other new Skills USA programs that may commence in Texas.  Per the February 7, 2009 Motion: Keep the TSPS Board of Directors aware of the status of funding for SkillsUSA programs and the matching funds allocations. Work in conjunction with the TSPS leadership and Public Relations Committee to ensure that the student competitions and SkillsUSA/Chapter activities are publicized in the TSPS and local publications.

Activity:    Since the last report, James Redmon has stepped down as the Chair of the SkillsUSA sub-committee, having asked me to take his place. The committee met at the August board meeting in Frisco. In attendance were James Redmon, Jamie Gillis, Chris Freeman, and Robert Young. At the meeting the transition of the committee from James to myself was discussed, as well as a number of ideas to try and secure funding from industry vendors, rather than relying financially on TSPS. 

Also discussed was the fact that Ron Parker has agreed to be the Technical Chair of the committee, which will allow him to focus on the contest details while other members of the committee are free to focus on the PR aspects of SkillsUSA.

I have been, and will continue to be, in communication with various committee members in order to get up-to-speed on the committee’s charge as well as progress we have made, and to solidify goals for the next couple of months, and into 2011.

Respectfully submitted,
Jamie Gillis, Sub-Committee Chair

UNIVERSITY ADVISOR

The primary function of the University Advisory Committee this year was to plan and host the High School Educator’s Retreat.  This year’s retreat was held on the West Campus of North Lake College, Irving, Tx.  While planned for as many as forty attendees, the Retreat only ended up with 12 registered.  These attendees all came from various contacts made directly through TSPS, namely:  SkillsUSA contest sponsoring; TIVA presentations; TSPS Chapter sponsored; and those not able to attend the 2009 Retreat.  Contact with the regional Education Service Centers (ESC) of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) did not work very well for either Region 10 or Region 11.  Therefore, we did not get the additional 25 registrants planned for.  The GOOD news is the event cost far less than was budgeted.  The committee would like to extend thanks all of those TSPS members of Chapter 2 and 5 who helped make this a very productive and memorable event.  When all of the expenses have been documented and settled the overall result will be a positive for the TSPS budget.  The 2011 Retreat will be hosted by Texas A&M-CC in Corpus Christi, Tx.  The 2012 Retreat is currently planned for Tyler Junior College and the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapters have requested the event return to the DFW metroplex in 2013.  

The original function of the University Advisory Committee was to monitor the various surveying programs at colleges and universities across the state of Texas.  Every couple of years the list is updated and the schools contacted with a questionnaire so TSPS can tract the students enrolled in surveying programs. The last survey was conducted in 2008 and another one is planned for this fall.  This committee expects to generate a full report before the end of this year, so keep an eye on the TSPS website for more information.

The new TSPS leadership structure resulting from the loss of the Second Vice President position has recently designated this committee as a sub-committee of the TSPS Public Relations Committee.

Respectfully submitted,

William M. (Bill) Coleman, Chair