Blatant Rip Off
Apparently and unbeknownst to me, I’ve got another site in the Netherlands that looks completely different from this one save for the navigation links.
All kidding aside, I’ve been actually waiting for this to happen. For someone in another country, or even a resident of the US of A to steal something from my site, be it the navigation, the layout, graphics or content. In this case, this unknown person who I gather is from the Netherlands, at least according to their domain appears to have just set up his or her site and in the process they’ve lifted my URLs and navigation.
I’ve seen it happen to Jon Hicks, Paul Scrivens and a variety of other developers (designers, bloggers, whatever you’d like to call them).
Kudos goes to Technorati for showing me that links from this site were being prominently displayed on another domain. I won’t lie and say it doesn’t irk me because to me this is no different than stealing someone’s identity, albeit a milder form of it.
October 1st, 2004
Wayhey! Had to happen sooner or later. Looks like Kubrick as well. Maybe they are just in the process of setting it up and are exprimenting. Still a disclaimer and credit wouldn’t go amiss.
I’d contact them and point it out. If it is Kubrick he’s stripped all credit from that as well - v.rude.
October 1st, 2004
Gary: I knew something like this was going to happen, only a matter of time I kept telling myself. What irks me is that this person is linking directly to my site, as if he was me. Even if they were experimenting, it makes sense to just change the URLs to something else, rather than linking directly to a site.
Also, I’d contact them if I had a way of doing so.
October 1st, 2004
Leave a comment on the site? If it’s accepting comments…
I agree with you that it’s a pain. Any idiot should have removed the links pointing to your site…but I don’t hold out much hope after looking at the sites tagline…especially when he can’t spell ’scratching’.
Update: Just left a comment there..
October 1st, 2004
Y’know… I don’t buy the “sorry, just experimenting” line of crap that these mouth-breathers always use. If you want to experiment, then do it privately on a development server. Everyone can have their own private web server environment on their home machine using Apache.
This just smacks of desperation and laziness.
October 1st, 2004
Yeah, I’ve currently got a clone site myself right now. I’ve talked with the guy and simply encouraged him to explore further and make the design something that reflects him better. I’m not sure what else I could do.
October 1st, 2004
@Max, you know what…I think I agree with you there. I happen to think my site is pretty generic, but I still spent agonising hours putting together the CSS and continually restyling on my home server.
October 1st, 2004
Hey man, sorry that really sucks - somewhat flattering though eh?
October 2nd, 2004
Hmm..
Your site seems similar in concept to simplebits and many other popular CSS and standards sites. It seems to be getting hit pretty hard and its getting your name out there.
Looking at your style sheets, it seems you have used many popular layout methods that you probabily didn’t invent and don’t give credit anywhere.
I think you should just be happy someone liked your graphics or whatever instead of announcing to the world that someone stole your ideas (when they are probabily not entirely yours anyhow).
Congrats on the site though.. like the design.. I wish you had some background imges that I could rip off.
;-)
October 2nd, 2004
John: While I appreciate your selective insight on this manner, maybe you should have read the article through instead of jumping straight to conclusions.
At no point did I state that this individual lifted any graphics or layout methods, rather he is linking directly to this site and it’s page as if it were his own. To be honest, no one invented these methods so much as shared them and I’m completely fine with that. You really only do so much to the layout, it’s the graphics that take time and belong to the author respectively. It’s not a concern of mine if someone were to tinker with the underlying code or CSS, I’m a firm believer that we learn better from looking at other people’s work, as I have done in the past.
However, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to link directly to a site or it’s pages as if it were your own. For example, how would you feel if you set up a site with family photos or just a porfolio and someone out there linked directly to these pages (without giving credit). If someone were to see this, they might not understand that the outside links are not part of the author’s work.
Also, I never “announced” that someone stole my ideas, rather I made the observation that it wouldn’t surprise me if someone did. Let’s be honest we all “steal”, “borrow” or “collaborate”, whatever you’d like to refer to it as. This site might look like Simplebits and other blogs (that debate has surfaced elsewhere), but there are certain things that I do to make it my own.
Again, I appreciate your feedback, but understand that what you’re describing is completely different from this situation.
As for backgrounds, what you’d be “stealing” would belong to Squidfingers anyway so you might as well try there first.
October 2nd, 2004
“like the design.. I wish you had some background imges that I could rip off.”
…and that describes your position perfectly John.
@Kartooner, good for you to explain yourself, but you didn’t need to. Similar to a debate I saw on Airbag a couple of months ago. It’s not worth pointing it out to some people.
October 4th, 2004
He Kartooner,
After I RIPPET your top-menu and not your DESIGN, I did send you a mail! I guess you won’t reply that after the incident.
Amazing how many comments you have for this post.
If somebody died, hehe!
So now and then everybody rips something from the internet.
Didnt’ you when your we’re 16 years old?
Anyway, I don’t need your top menu anymore.
I think my site sprons.nl is ready to use!
You guys take care now, bye bye then!
October 4th, 2004
I’m sixteen and I don’t, to be honest.
Please people, don’t get a bad image of Dutch people. We too have the usual random arse showing up.
And my English isn’t that bad.
October 4th, 2004
Rob: No worries. I myself have a handful of Dutch, Scandinavian (I’m Norwegian, by the way) and Swedish friends. This isn’t at all a discriminatory situation, rather it’s just a question of common sense practice.
I should add that I admired and adapted certain methods when I was younger, but never did I lift specific links or graphics for my own benefit.
We all learn from others and collaboration is key, but selfishness is just disrespectful and downright shady.
October 5th, 2004
As Sob said “We too have the usual random arse showing up.”
Well, here I am!
While I was surfing on the net I found this website:
http://css.maxdesign.com.au/listamatic/horizontal23.htm
The css and html looks almost the same as yours, Kartooner!
October 5th, 2004
Sprons: I’m not going to waste my time and energy, but I will say this; of course I use methods donated to the CSS community. We all do. It’s the only way we learn, that is we adapt certain methodologies, modify them and ultimately make them our own.
My point in all this has absolutely nothing to do with the underlying CSS code, because to be honest I wouldn’t have flinched if you had copied it.
Rather, you linked directly to the sections within this site as if they were your own. Can I be any more clear than that?
October 5th, 2004
okay, okay, that linking part was’nt the smarstest thing to do.
I would have change that if you were’nt so damn fast, hehe!
Any how, your website has a beautifull WP design and I respect that!
There’s no such thing as stealing someone’s design, style or script.
The next time I will ask for it ;)
I like your avatar plugin, or should I say gravatar!
Can you tell/mail me how you put the gravatar script in your wp-comments.php? <- still thinking your using that one.
Thnx and maybe later!
October 5th, 2004
Sprons: To implement Gravatar into Wordpress follow this link: Wordpress Gravatar Plugin
After enabling the plug-in it’s a simple cut and paste of the PHP code and you’re all set.
October 10th, 2004
Hey, it’s not all bad - at least its a positive indication that you’ve ‘made it’. Not everyone get’s their sites ripped ;-)
October 19th, 2005
[...] Copycats can be very bad, but sometimes it’s just too much. I recall Erik Sagen’s kartooner and Ethan Marcotte’s Sidesh0w. They just slipped into my brain, and it pisses me off. I’ve copied the code of A List Apart once, be it only for the float. And that wasn’t the way I wanted it, so I made my own. Copying helps you learn, but please, be inspired, not a copier. [...]