Themes that Mimic Copyrighted Design

[hafiz]

I just came across a theme that at a glance looks like a bad imitation of 37signals' Basecamp. I am not a lawyer and I don't really understand the legality of all this, but I just feel that this is a bad practice.

Initially wanted to rant on my blog, but then realized that I don't understand much about this issue, so I'm bringing it here hoping the fine folks of WPTavern to share their thought and enlighten me.

So, what do you guys think?

[ianstewart]

You pretty much hit the nail on the head. Whether or not this is legal or will/won't be in the future or was/wasn't in the past, "I just feel that this is a bad practice". I'd leave it at that.

[Ryan]

Illegal, immoral and unethical.

[Elpie]

The best thing to do if you spot a cloned site is to report it to the owners of the original and leave it up to them to handle in whatever way they see fit.

Its hard to say if its legal or not as this depends on what the laws are in each jurisdiction.

[andrea_r]

At a minimum, it is Bad Form.

[Leland]

Not really sure about the legality exactly, personally I've never liked the practice. There are a few "clone" themes of sites like Facebook and Digg floating around out there.

I've even seen one that looked almost exactly like People.com.

[Ryan]

Its hard to say if its legal or not as this depends on what the laws are in each jurisdiction.

I was under the impression that basic copyright law is very consistent across countries, albeit some countries never bother to enforce it.

[Elpie]

I was under the impression that basic copyright law is very consistent across countries, albeit some countries never bother to enforce it.

Ah, but ideas cannot be copyright and in some countries putting together a site that has the same design as yours, even if its using some of the same code, is seen as imitation of a design, not theft of a copyright work. Images, scripts and code can be copyright. The visual concept cannot be.

Whether courts will view a cloned site as an imitation or theft really depends on (a) how they apply copyright law and (b) how much they understand the component parts of website design. The chances of (b) happening aren't good.

[carlhancock]

Ah, but ideas cannot be copyright and in some countries putting together a site that has the same design as yours, even if its using some of the same code, is seen as imitation of a design, not theft of a copyright work. Images, scripts and code can be copyright. The visual concept cannot be.

Actually you are mistaken. The visual design itself can be protected by copyright just as photographs and paintings can be copyrighted. How do you think artists protect their work?

There is no difference between a web site design and a painting as far as copyright goes.

The trick is actually enforcing the copyright. Chances are the person who's design is stolen is not going to have the resources or the motivation to mount a legal challenge... especially if the person violating the copyright is on the other side of the world.

[ifranky]

Most countries have agreed on the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Like Carl said, it's enforcing that's hard.

Splashpress currently is trying to even find the 'responsible' person for a 9rules logo rip off and although we know who owns/maintains the company using the logo, they all are just pointing at others. Easy to do when they are in South Africa and no one is there to take them to court, what are the chances that Splashpress will be able to enforce said company to chance their logo?