**Sigh**
Someone’s ripping my design again. In May I had the same issue from someone is Russia – this time I think it’s Japan. Seriously there should be (if there isn’t already) some law against stealing other people’s designs. It’s copyright infringement. Nice original name too: “Men’s Items”. If you look at the bottom the guy’s even claiming it was designed by him/her.
**Sigh**
Good guy
Bad guy
technorati tags: thief, criminal, steal, stole, nick, chored, swiped
Stephen is a communications consultant based out of the UK. You can connect with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email Stephen
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Simon Collister
Hard luck, Stephen. Take it as a compliment mate!
On the plus side I like the idea of blog posts tagged ‘chored’. Technorati tells me yours is the only one out there! I ownder how many posts are tagged ‘chicken+parmo’?
Stephen
Heh! No chicken parmo I’m afraid.
Jennifer Apple
This has happened to me countless times. I sometimes post the event to Pirated Sites:
http://pirated-sites.com/vanilla/
Stephen
Thanks Jennifer. I may just add this too…
Simon Wakeman
Cheeky.
I guess as Simon says (no pun) imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
How did you spot the offending site?
carolwojtyla
wow, the person didn’t even tried to change a little bit, or just be inspired by you. the person REALLY just copied
this is so bad
:/
Stephen
I understand it’s frustrating to see your work used without permission or attribution. But, your blog is built on Wordpress, which is an open source platform. Giving credit where credit is deserved is an important part of working with open source. Unfortunately, not everyone understands or respects this premise. In keeping with the “karma,” of the open source community I believe those who understand the value of giving proper credit, should help educate those who do not understand this fundamental principle. Shrug it off and accept the fact that imitation (a.k.a. theft) is the truest form of flattery.
Stephen
Simon: Google Analytics allows you to see who’s using your urchin.js link. If someone is using it, it usually means they’re ‘using’ your design.
Carol: I agree, thanks.
Stephen: Like the karma idea. And you’re right, the open source thing is great. WordPress is great.
Sherrilynne Starkie
Like the man said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But they could have credited you at least. Have you been in touch?
Stephen
Yeah I sent an email through the contact form. No response as of yet though…
Mauro Turcatti
You got a cool layout. That’s your problem!
sam wilcox
It is a really cool layout Stephen, chame they’ve taken it! On the plus side yours is a thousand times more interesting than theirs…not much danger of getting the two mixed-up! (I’m trying to look for small mercies!)
Cash
I can’t believe you’re suprised this when you write about pr and technology….isn’t it a given that this happens? I do like the design though.
Best, Cash
Stephen
“I can’t believe you’re suprised this when you write about pr and technology….isn’t it a given that this happens?”
Huh?
Stephen
test2
Owen Lystrup
It’s the price you pay for being unique.
You definitely should take it as a compliment. At least they’re not stealing your content too. I’ve had that happen more than once.
milo
Did you contat the hoster?
btw: gravatar took ages to load.
Stephen
Owen: Very true. Think I’m just gonna get on with it. Nothing I can do anyway. Besides, their version looks terrible.
Milo: Yeah, emailed them twice but no reply. Yeah, I’ve noticed that. I may have to take Gravatars off.
Nice blog btw…
maon
yeah…you have a cool design…I think that website should at least change a banner layout, bg img, css or something that can make different from yours..what you think?
Stephen
Indeed.