Hi All. Im a freelance webdesigner and I do this on the side once in awhile for people. I recently designed a website and when I put it up on my beta site for acustomer review (the site has only been up for 1 week), some person contacted me and said that I was copying his exact website. In short, he is accusing me for website infringement. I designed the site using a free template online. I used the same layout, stock photos, and a little text that was provided with the template. I used the 2 stock photos that came with the template but everything else I completely changed. Now here is the problem, I cannot find the free template or site any longer. I do not remember the site that I got it from, there are just so many resources out there. His website has the copyright all right reserved on the bottom but when I asked him, he doesn't have it registered at the copyright office. He didnt design the site, he just had it designed as well. Either way he said that it is still infringement and would take actions. Any advice on what I should do ? By the way, I took down the site once I heard about this. He is spreading bad press online about my client and also myself. Im seeking legal advice soon but would like to hear some feedback from other web designers that have any thought or experienced this before. Any suggestions would really work right now. I never experienced this before and would really appreciate the help. I really didnt mean to copy his site or have seen his site before. Please advice.
Play it safe, use a new template. Explain the situation and apologise for the accident. People make templates, and other sites either steal or copy them and allow others to download (sometimes with ammended sponsor links etc).
Sounds like you copied it to me. How did he find your site it must be for the same keywords he uses ? he never just happen to stumble across your site out of some billion websites by coincidence