I am a thief.

I am a thief. I keep bookmark of nicely designed websites, and when i need a new site i sometimes download a copy of the website, images and all.

Then I manually recreate every last damn pixel (not too hard for me being an old hand at photoshop) and often mix and match ideas of my own and other sites. whatever seems trendy at the time ( like mirror reflective logos it seems now)

I do this in the assumption that via the magic of photoshop, i obviously bypass claims of using copyrighted images (even if they are just spacers, bars etc). The layout, well i also recode this, sometimes not as well as the original. These hoops i go through, do they absolve me?

I mean, is a concept copyrighted? eg: nice navigation idea. I'll have that!. Do i have to go so far as to stick it in a text editor and rename all the vars, and styles. It just seems so stupid to be able not to "view source" and use it!

Then here is my question:

If i have created a copy, by my own designers hands, redo the html by eye, and the css? (surely it cant all be copyrighted?) - am i in the clear?
Assuming nothing remains of the original once on my website is live as a clone...but with no 'content' from the original..

(of course none of the original print would remain), every graphic being redone, every table being recoded, how far do i have to go!?.

thanks in advance.

A. Thief.

 

Nothing wrong with this really--at all. No one would have the time or energy required to even care I don't think let alone approach you about it (especially with a law suit).

 

groovy id better get going with the search n replace on the ids etc

By the time the other website ever notices i will probably have modified it beyond what could be called a 'copy' - although we are both in the same keyword sphere - Damn nice way to handle the data i need to display. I just gotta have it!

 

That is one fine story

Erm, make your own website

 

Please do not write such things when you don't know what your talking about...

If you copy someones website change the code slightly and maybe alter one or two images, you will still be getting sued... The whole reason the © is there is so you do not copy anything on the entire website. If someone has the © at the bottom of their page, everything is copyrighted on the page.

 

Well, there is only a hope that some day you'll create your own site...

 

I hate it when people copy my ideas buit it happens all the time its just part of the internet life.

I dont think you got any leagle issues here and Well at least your not copying it from the "view source" but with your skills you should be able to make your own just as fast

 

Well atleast you're trying to recreate the stuff, I know people who rip off the entire content from a website and claim it as their own, and at times there isn't much one can do except ask them to kindly remove it.

 

Thanks, it seems the jury is out on this one, i guess i will have to recode the whole thing by hand, to play it safe..
BUT THE COLORS STAY!! Nobody has the copyright on html color codes! ..
Thankfully im attracted to less flashy websites as the years go by. (much easy to forge!)

Might go 'window shopping' at coolhomepages.com

 

There is no single answer to your question, because there are a number of factual questions that may differ from project to project.

Basically, redoing the work is not sufficient to get you off the hook. For example, if you take a photograph from a website and rebuild it pixel by pixel but the final photograph LOOKS identical to the typical viewer, you have violated copyright laws.

If you take copyrighted software and change the names of the variables and perhaps rewrite a routine or two, you have still violated the creator's copyright.

On the other hand, let's say you find software that performs a function you need, so you write your own code from scratch that does the identical job. You have not violated the owner's copyright. Copyright protects expression, not function.

Thus, you can only be in trouble if the work in subject to a copyright. A person cannot copyright materials that are purely functional. A navigation scheme may fall into that category, while the buttons that illustrate the scheme do not. It can be very complicated.

 

Seems like a lot of work just to steal..

But I think it would depend on who you steal from the wrong person might run you through court, or hack your internet life to hell or track you down in person.

I think it all depends on who you mess with.

 

My approach to dealing with this sort of stuff is far from level headed. I would have to agree with resto. If I find you have jacked my design I start with the webhost, than I report it to Google so it will get canned quickly.
And that is just for starters. Typically, you can be tracked down in under 5 minutes via domain dossier. If the registrar info is fake then the next thing to go is your domain name. The latter takes a while though.

That said, copying peoples work is about as lame as it gets.

Nigel

 

great posts, thanks! Business Attorney - Copyright protects expression, not function. going to have to google on that one...thank you v much cheque is in the post.

nigel got to an interesting point that concerns me more than law suits (me being in the tropics with nothing to lose!)

"report it to Google so it will get canned quickly"

now that WOULD be a pisser. It took me weeks to get back into ebay, and only then by getting legal on the ceo's inbox. fighting google though.. i think i would walk away

but im not convinced Google would get involved in copyright squabbles? particularly over 'design' and not 'expression' infringement..

ive left the webdesign work till last on this project, learning php etc instead, saving the fun bit till last...

having read all this, i think i WILL not copy the website i have my eyes on... i will browse the galleries, and my bookmarks, and create a hybrid.
cheers

 

I don't disagree with the premise of your statement, but having the copyright symbol doesn't grant you a copyright, nor does not having the symbol take away your rights. Just throwing that out there.

 

That is lame...seriously u wont get anythin outta it.

 

wow stealing someones work, changing an image or 2 doesnt make it yours. It is yours when you build it from scratch or buy the rights...

 

I agree with most people here - it's still stealing and a copyright violation, if you if recreated everything but kept the layout identical.

Be creative - look at different websites, get ideas, but then create something new and better yourself.

 

If you have ability to recognize it, you have ability to give up doing it and find your own way.

 

Everyone should keep a snippet of encoded javascript in their code that can be remotely turned malicious to prevent just such a thing from happening.

Or use a hard to find @import with remote url in the css lol.