- JWB2
One thing you can do right now is apply for a copyright for that line drawing.
1. In the US, you need only register a copyright if you intend to initiate legal proceedings against infringement. Otherwise, it's just "there" upon creation or publishing (forget which).
2. In the US, mechanical drawings cannot be protected by copyright. In fact, most of the pictures shown on this forum can't be protected either. Copyrighted works must have a discernable creative aspect that the factual representation of a mechanical does not have. This dates back over 100 years to a Supreme Court case involving photographs of Oscar Wilde, and was reinforced by a more recent USSC case involving a computer design firm vs. an automaker.
KL