RANT: People stealing origional ideas from me...

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Have you ever had someone steal things from you that you spent a lot of time on? Well, I'm really into both hardware and software side of computers, but web design is what got me all started.

After I make my own site/design, I almost always find a person that steals the design and uses it as their own without giving me any credit. Well, one of my friends uses my design, just changes some colors and font sizes and then he calls it his own design. He totally rips my CSS file and uses it for himself with not changes so many of the sizes/colors are still the same even though they look like crap over his colors just because he has no clue has the CSS works. I won't post a link to his site, but if you want, you can go to my site and see what I'm talking about: Link

Currently, thats a newer design only used for 2 or 3 months now and it hasn't been stolen yet. But, you can see the amount of time I put into my designs from that. Anyway, he stole my previous design and uses it to his liking. Oh, I did mention he is a friend, right? The problem is, we're friends almost always, and good ones at that, but I don't friggin understand why he has to steal my designs. I know he's always been jealous of mine because when I used to run my website on a large scale with over 10,000 people a day a few years ago, he used to put little comments on his saying "This site is better than Ankit's" (Yes, thats my real name, hehe) I didn't really care about those or anything, but I don't know why he has to steal them.

Is there anything you guys have done when people use your ideas? The thing with me is, if you e-mail me and ask me for permission to use it, I'll say, go ahead use it, just make sure to put a little link at the bottom saying "Origional design by Ankit," where Ankit links to my site. A few people have done this and I actually like that, but I just hate it when they steal my designs because they don't want people to know they just copied and pasted my designs....

 

[Schadenfroh]

you stole this thread idea from me

 

[ElFenix]

is he making money off it? if not, i say unbunch your panties and spiro agnew.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
is he making money off it? if not, i say unbunch your panties and spiro agnew.

Nope, no money. That has come to my mind, but he shows people the site and sometimes they go "wow" when they are really looking at my design/coding...

 

[fatbaby]

HTML {
OVERFLOW: hidden
}
BODY {
FONT-SIZE: 10px; COLOR: #666; FONT-FAMILY: tahoma, arial, verdana; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #eee
}
A {
COLOR: #999; TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
A:hover {
COLOR: #000
}
#tooltip {
BORDER-RIGHT: #666 1px solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; BORDER-TOP: #666 1px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; Z-INDEX: 987654321; LEFT: 0px; VISIBILITY: hidden; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #666 1px solid; COLOR: #666; PADDING-TOP: 5px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #666 1px solid; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 0px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff
}
#box {
LEFT: 0px; VISIBILITY: hidden; OVERFLOW: hidden; WIDTH: 316px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 0px; HEIGHT: 274px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ccc
}
#main {
LEFT: 43px; OVERFLOW: hidden; WIDTH: 272px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 1px; HEIGHT: 272px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff
}
#nav {
FONT-SIZE: 1px; LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 42px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 0px; HEIGHT: 274px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #eee
}
.slideMenuContent {
PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; FONT-SIZE: 11px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 2px; LINE-HEIGHT: 15px; PADDING-TOP: 5px; POSITION: absolute; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #FFF
}
.slideMenuContainer {
VISIBILITY: hidden; OVERFLOW: hidden; POSITION: absolute
}
.opacity {
FILTER: alpha(opacity=70); moz-opacity: 0.7
}
#scrollContainer {
LEFT: 0px; OVERFLOW: hidden; WIDTH: 218px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 0px; HEIGHT: 232px
}
.clContent {
LEFT: 0px; VISIBILITY: hidden; WIDTH: 218px; LINE-HEIGHT: 15px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 0px
}
.clContent H1 {
FONT-SIZE: 11px; MARGIN: 0px
}
.clContent P {
MARGIN: 5px 0px 5px
}
#scrollBar {
FONT-SIZE: 1px; LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 8px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 0px; HEIGHT: 40px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ccc
}
#scrollTrack {
FONT-SIZE: 1px; LEFT: 244px; WIDTH: 8px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 20px; HEIGHT: 232px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #eee
}

Whats so unique about that? (copys code down and puts it on own site)

 

[PatboyX]

think of it this way: you can always come up with more good ideas and he probably cant (he can just steal others..so..dont let it bother you)

ive had people "borrow" ideas from me in writing classes or in lit mags that ive worked with people on. it used to drive me nuts but...the ideas really always were either different enough that it didnt matter or i always knew i could come up with new stuff...so i stopped getting worried about it.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

The CSS isn't the most unique, but the fact that he took everything and just changed a few colors/font sizes pisses me... and he didn't give any credit

 

[fatbaby]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
The CSS isn't the most unique, but the fact that he took everything and just changed a few colors/font sizes pisses me... and he didn't give any credit

Well we all were css nubs at one time. I used to take the css from some websites and just change the color, border, font, and remove a few unneeded lines without giving credit to the original autor.

If you steal my source code, good for you. What can i do about it?

 

[EyeMWing]

When you do somthing that you publish like that, you should always eat the $30 and get a registered copyright. I'm 16 and have more registered copyrights than years that I've been here. Then - ATTACK.

 

[sandmanwake]

i thought that unless it was an invention, it's automatically copyrighted. For example, if you were to write a book, the book is automatically copyrighted--I assumed the same was with a webpage.

 

[Freejack2]

Umm no, If you write a book, you have to send it to the copyright office along with $30.

 

[Yomicron]

Originally posted by: sandmanwake
i thought that unless it was an invention, it's automatically copyrighted. For example, if you were to write a book, the book is automatically copyrighted--I assumed the same was with a webpage.

yes, it is automatically copyrighted, but you will have a hard time proving it's yours with out a registered copyright.



EDIT:

from the copyright.gov faq:

When is my work protected?
Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work.

 

[911paramedic]

Originally posted by: Yomicron

Originally posted by: sandmanwake
i thought that unless it was an invention, it's automatically copyrighted. For example, if you were to write a book, the book is automatically copyrighted--I assumed the same was with a webpage.

yes, it is automatically copyrighted, but you will have a hard time proving it's yours with out a registered copyright.

Correct. That's why people that REALLY want protection send it in to the copyright office. (or you could pay a notary to stamp it...)

 

[Muzzan]

Who's been stealing your thoughts? </police chief Wiggum>

 

[Regs]

Side Note: Even though you have a nice little design, your dhtml done nav bar took me longer then necessary to find. It defeats its purpose and miles well be static.

 

[ReiAyanami]

imitation is flattery.

so flatter him with a baseball bat.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: Regs
Side Note: Even though you have a nice little design, your dhtml done nav bar took me longer then necessary to find. It defeats its purpose and miles well be static.

Well, I don't mean to be offensive but it really serves its purpose for the website. Its a start page for me with all my links. I haven't really designed the website around others using it.

Also, I understand everyone being new at some time or the other, but there are two types of n00bs. The kind that give you credit and respect you and the exact opposite. He doesn't even give me credit anywhere on the site.

One question though, how do I exactly go about getting it copyrighted? I think it would be hard to copyright some coding, are there some restrictions?

 

[Regs]

US Copyright Office

They'll scrutinize a little, but what's done is done. Is the source code orginal?

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
Have you ever had someone steal things from you that you spent a lot of time on? Well, I'm really into both hardware and software side of computers, but web design is what got me all started.

After I make my own site/design, I almost always find a person that steals the design and uses it as their own without giving me any credit. Well, one of my friends uses my design, just changes some colors and font sizes and then he calls it his own design. He totally rips my CSS file and uses it for himself with not changes so many of the sizes/colors are still the same even though they look like crap over his colors just because he has no clue has the CSS works. I won't post a link to his site, but if you want, you can go to my site and see what I'm talking about: Link

Currently, thats a newer design only used for 2 or 3 months now and it hasn't been stolen yet. But, you can see the amount of time I put into my designs from that. Anyway, he stole my previous design and uses it to his liking. Oh, I did mention he is a friend, right? The problem is, we're friends almost always, and good ones at that, but I don't friggin understand why he has to steal my designs. I know he's always been jealous of mine because when I used to run my website on a large scale with over 10,000 people a day a few years ago, he used to put little comments on his saying "This site is better than Ankit's" (Yes, thats my real name, hehe) I didn't really care about those or anything, but I don't know why he has to steal them.

Is there anything you guys have done when people use your ideas? The thing with me is, if you e-mail me and ask me for permission to use it, I'll say, go ahead use it, just make sure to put a little link at the bottom saying "Origional design by Ankit," where Ankit links to my site. A few people have done this and I actually like that, but I just hate it when they steal my designs because they don't want people to know they just copied and pasted my designs....

And after this rant can I safely assume that you have never snagged a song off of P2P ??

 

[Regs]

If he copied the source code word for word, including the css class identifiers but changed only its attributes then I would be some what appalled too. I would not give two shit's however if he used it for his own design. Just as long it doesn't look exactly like mine.

I don't think they go on how the code is constructed, but how the overall design is at the end. Is the design unique and is it's function unique?

Like if I made JavaScript that made drop down menu with glowing arrows, but if someone else comes along and makes the same thing but in different code it could still be considered copyright infringement because the design was unique.

However, if he changes the attributes of the source code to make a different overall design and perspective, then no, it would not be considered copyright infringement.

That's when you get a good lawyer and threaten to sue. Either way , I say just let it go. It's not like he is stealing money or using your idea for profit. I think it's egotistical.