Hey everyone, Yesterday, I was made aware of a website that had copied the one I designed. They've virtually replicated the layout and have lifted all of the images, however they're recoloured / edited them slightly. Seeing as they didn't seek permission from myself (the designer) I did a "who-hosts" check on their site and contacted the Web Host. They replied saying I need to provide some information such as what specifically has been copied, contact information, physical or electronic signature etc... So in a few minutes I'll be sending in my Compyright Infringement claims, which the Web Host will look into in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). I'm just wondering what the outcome is likely to be. Should the Host find the layout and images are too similar, is the offending site likely to be suspended? has anybody been in a similar situation? Thanks for taking the time to read.
If there offshore your pretty much pooped unless you took it to court, did you have a copyright on the design or water marks on any images? Any thing of yours in the coding in which they left in of yours? (credits of the author can usually be found in a themes coding)
Hey Mike, thanks for your reply. To my knowledge they're not offshore, as they're hosted by siteground. I did a bit of research and found out that in 1989 a law was passed stating "everything created privately and originally after April 1, 1989 is copyrighted and protected whether it has a notice or not." Regardless, the site design had the "(c) sitename.com 2007-2009" copyright notice as well as the "Designed by MhW" notice. That's as far as it went in terms of copyright notices, there weren't any watermarks or anything. However, I've sent the Copyright Claim to the Web Host and have told them I'm able to provide original .psd's if required. Just hoping I get some kind of the justice. I kindly started a feedback topic on their feedback forum and one of their first replies was..."Thanks for posting...you're a c*nt". From the looks of things it was ripped by a 12 year old, but the morale principle still applies. It's never nice to put a lot of time and effort into something for someone to come along and take credit for it themselves. Will keep everyone updated.
If it is a responsible host they will act accordingly. However, one thing i would recommend is to send your claim by mail as they seem to take it more seriously (from personally experience) Good luck!
Hey M_media, thanks for your reply. So far the only contact has been via Email (although I get the impression they'll be wanting to phone me within the coming days). Assuming that doesn't work, I'll be sure to send my claims in via Mail. @Wptheme: Unfortunately it was just the basic xHTML / CSS Website with accompanying phpBB 3 style. Because whoever ripped it doesn't quite have the copy / paste skills to rip a phpBB 3 style, they didn't get away with that one. However, it's comforting to know they're a respected host and as M_media said if they are responsible, they should take action. Thanks for the tips & support everyone