Re: FN-FORUM: I've just been ripped. :(

date posted 6th March 2008 14:55

Do what I do and stick some extraneous code somewhere amongst all the
(validating!) code.
Then if you say "you nicked my website" you can prove it.

Long story illustrating this (but cut short):
client wanted a site built, many moons ago (they designed it, just
wanted me to put it all together)
I built a beta version, client saw it said they didn't like it, refused
to pay.
A few weeks later I saw the site online, view source, saw my code.
In fact it was an exact copy of my work, even down to the half finished
pages.
I contacted the ex-client, told them I could prove it was my work, they
said their developer had let them down and could I finish the project at
which point my quote mysteriously had a few extra noughts on the end.

Needless to say that if I hadn't 'watermarked' the code the lazy
developer would have got away with it.

Lee Rickler
Director Point and Stare - pointandstare.com
Web Design and Development for over 11 years

Ben Johnson (Neogic) F wrote:
> Sam M - www.wiredeyes.com wrote:
>> Agreed though there isn't much I can do, they haven’t ripped the
>> site directly (apart from the icons) although they have for all
>> intensive purposes ripped the concept and layout, colouring, styles and
>> effects to make it a very close match.
>
> Um - I don't get it! Your design is loosely based on iStockPhoto imagery and
> the "techy" template from AWBS (http://www.awbsdemo.com/index.php?td=techy,
> including colour scheme, tile gradient idea, etc). Nothing wrote with this
> in the slightest, but surely it negates your ability to complain about
> someone basing their design on yours?!
>
> Again - personally I think borrowing ideas from good existing works is all
> part of the design game and should be taken as a complement on your site
> design. That is the nature of fashion and trends in creative works
> (including music, art .. and site design!).
>
> Simply copy-pasting an *original* site design wholesale (code, graphics n'
> all) and slapping in one's own content (or worse still, a variation on the
> original content) is, of course, another matter. Perpetrators should be fed
> to the dogs! :)
>
> Cheers, Ben
>
> --
> Ben Johnson, Neogic Web Solutions
> // design . development . managed hosting
>
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