Hi everyone I was wondering if its illegal to have a website that looks very similar to another one (graphically) even if the pictures or coding is completely different. AKA I didnt steal any pictures, I just really liked the layout. The website is http://bit.ly/bbr1CH And the new layout I'm working on is http://i44.tinypic.com/23kuqg7.png Thanks in advance everyone!
The general style resembles the simple Google one. The only problem I'd have is the cloud motif when they're both book sites, but due to marketing and not legal reasons. That could cause confusion, so some of your customers might confuse your site with theirs and might forget about yours. You might want some other background to reduce confusion, and perhaps something relevant to your academic/textbook/book recycling situation. Maybe instead of a cloud, the white top of a classical/grecian building, or other academic-type building. A tree-covered ridge (saving trees by recycling books). The top of an old document and quill pen. The top of a bookshelf (especially a metal shelf that has some interesting industrial shapes). Browse the images at loc.gov of the inside of the Library of Congress building - assorted classical and academic scenes inside their buildings and many public domain photos of their buildings.
Don't worry, they can't say "Hey! that's illegal because your website kinda looks like mine" You would have had to completely copy it, from header to footer in order for that to happen. You're good to go.
It is not true that you would "have had to completely copy it, from header to footer" for there to be copyright infringement. If you create a "derivative work" based on a copyrighted work , (including copyrighted elements of a larger work), you are infringing the copyrighted work. It certainly does not have to be a carbon copy of the copyrighted work. The real question is whether the elements you are copying (a blue bar across a cloud-filled sky) is protected by copyright. If they are copyrightable, you are probably infringing. If they are not copyrightable, then you can use them freely, at least from a copyright law standpoint. There are other legal theories, such as "passing off" that may come into play as well. Even where there is no copyright infringement, there may be other ways to protect intellectual property. Personally, I suggest that you come up with a design that achieves your look and feel without being such a blatant copy of a similar website. Even if your design does not legally infringe any protectible rights of the other website, it does not say much for your website to be a second-rate knockoff of another website's design.
well, i hate it when designers have no imagination, i told once a designer that i need design similar to (i pointed him to 3 different websites) and the header he created was 85% similar to the first site i pointed him... but yours doesn't look bad at all
It looks different enough from a webmaster aspect but your user might forget your site and go with your competitor if they come across both site.
Why do you want your site to look like someone elses in the first place beats me. You should be branding your own site with its own look, thus making it stand out from the crowd. in my opinion both sites could easily be mistaken as one and the same as the variation is not that wide. If i happened to search and find both sites i would not think I had found two different sites.
I don't believe you'll have any trouble. I'd still try to stay away from the same background though just in case someone wants to cause some trouble.
I don't think you should have any trouble. The only thing really close is the clouds in the background.. but it's the same basic design as many search engines. PS. I think you should change your slogan to "Your texbooks, just cheaper.." or "Same textbooks, just cheaper.." It just reads really weird the way it is now. Just my two cents.