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I’m Tired Of Companies Ripping off our site, So I’m Calling Them Out

andresmax.com

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Re: I’m Tired Of Companies Ripping off our site, So I’m Calling Them Out

#191

Post by ajross »

homosaur wrote: post #29
ajross wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. It's a really nice layout, but honestly -- should the essence here (full page photo, small menu at top right, logo at top left, Title/quote in middle with "more info" button) really be "protectable" IP? I just don't see it, sorry. That doesn't make those designers (or probably just one) honorable or talented or honest. But they have the right to clone layouts too.

I don't think you looked hard enough, there was plenty of code taken vertabim if you look at the source.

Indeed, I didn't. Note that the linked blog post didn't reference code theft specifically, and it's important to distinguish the two. Copyright violations are cut and dry, and should be condemned. Merely cloning a site design is not, and we shouldn't be lumping them together.

Re: I’m Tired Of Companies Ripping off our site, So I’m Calling Them Out

#193

Post by im3w1l »

readme wrote: post #110
deathfrag wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree to this method. Break their site with your js.

Hey, if we have execute of JS on all those clients, why not REDIRECT them to your site? Free traffic. All relevant.

When people press store / buy, have a 25% probability of redirecting to your store. In all other cases, do nothing.

This could stay hidden a lot longer.

Re: I’m Tired Of Companies Ripping off our site, So I’m Calling Them Out

#194

Post by dclowd9901 »

incongruity wrote: post #70

I think there might be a commonality here – a number of them seem to be located in Australia (with one in India and one in the UK) – a whois check shows a few AU contacts and an AU-based whois privacy guard, so I can't be sure , but the do seem to be oddly clustered, IMHO. My bet would be that some third-party web firm/designer has sold all of these companies a "unique design" and more than likely most of them are un…

My impression, by how widespread it was, was that someone adopted it for a Wordpress theme, and it's now on Themeforest.

Re: I’m Tired Of Companies Ripping off our site, So I’m Calling Them Out

#195

Post by incongruity »

neya wrote: post #190

Hi all, I'm a designer and I have been under a similar situation - I have been, many, many times as a designer, asked to design something exactly like what my client has showed me, which most of the times was, another site. I haven't accepted a single offer from such clients, but I know how exactly they all work. Here's how it works: 1) The client keeps stalking a particular site he likes, which is usually a competit…

This also makes it very difficult to maintain for your client and a pain in the arse for any other designer or coder who has to deal with your work.

IMHO, unless your client is completely aware and onboard with this and has access to the original, un-adulterated version, you're doing a disservice to them.

(I say this as a designer and coder with degrees and 10+ years of experience to back up my opinion)

Re: I’m Tired Of Companies Ripping off our site, So I’m Calling Them Out

#196

Post by dclowd9901 »

kyro wrote: post #154

This post is pretty childish. Competition and copycats have existed for centuries and will continue to exist long after you're gone. You think calling them out is going to cause them to have a sudden change of heart after they presumably ripped off your design? Probably not. And I'm almost certain it won't affect any of their future business. You've not only placed yourself in an antagonistic position, but are now op…

I'm inclined to agree with you, but already a few of the sites on his list have been taken down for "upcoming new design!"

It seems shaming does have a palpable effect.

Re: I’m Tired Of Companies Ripping off our site, So I’m Calling Them Out

#197

Post by redm »

There's a great 37 signals article somewhere about this same topic. The gist is, that if you steal someone else's design, it's never going to meet your needs properly because it's not born from your business. Especially true for service based companies.

This is the same reason I started obfuscating javascript, css and html. It at least make it difficult enough to copy/edit that people may consider creating something themselves.

Re: I’m Tired Of Companies Ripping off our site, So I’m Calling Them Out

#199

Post by ricardobeat »

robomartin wrote: post #99

I think you might just be taking the wrong approach. Shaming them is a bad idea, at least as a first move. Seek-out and contact the owners of these businesses. Point out what you have discovered. There's an outside possibility that they have no clue that their web designers have done this. They might actually feel rather embarrassed to learn so. If I couldn't code my own sites and had to rely on designers who took th…

His approach appears to have worked, 4/5 of the websites are down.

Re: I’m Tired Of Companies Ripping off our site, So I’m Calling Them Out

#200

Post by honzzz »

mtrimpe wrote: post #120
readme wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, if we have execute of JS on all those clients, why not REDIRECT them to your site? Free traffic. All relevant.

I'm generally against all forms of intentional defamation, but I must admit that this option is very tempting... Are there any lawyers here that could weigh in on the legality of this?

And I would be especially interested in this site: http://www.creativegerms.com/about

I don't see any similarity at all (except for maybe some basic stuff that can be found on many websites) and including them into that "ripping off" article could be perceived as defamation. Did they just quickly switched to different design?

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