Web design ripoffs go mainstream! This is the kind of progress Obama brings, people. :) Visit site »
The jackass (or asses) that run this site have pirated my chapter of Web Standards Creatvitiy, a book I co-authored for Friends of ED, and published it in their blog as their very own. From what I can tell, their entire blog is made up of articles they didn’t write. What a bunch of assholes. Visit site »
Compare and contrast: Ours. Theirs. Visit site »
I mostly agree with what Gruber has to say in a response to criticism over his defense of Apple’s Hello TV spot. And, it’s well-written, as you’d expect from John.
Tangentially, I think one of the points of confusion over all this rip-off-or-not business is that there’s a world of difference between the law and the morals of individual creative people.
Creative people, and especially web designers, have gotten up in arms a lot lately over things the law would laugh at. What you call a rip-off often would not be seen as any kind of wrongdoing in copyright or trademark court. Copyright doesn’t protect ideas at all, and trademark is pretty lenient about logos and other marks that “look pretty similar.” So just because you’re upset that someone has a logo that looks like yours doesn’t give you any legal ground for focing them to cease and desist (you have the right to ask, of course, but they have the right to ignore you, too).
So next time you’re upset because someone has appropriated your idea or design, maybe think twice before saying, “you’ve stolen my intellectual property.” Because, more often than not, you don’t know the law well enough to know if that’s really true (I certainly don’t!). Instead, say what you do know: “I think you got this idea from my original work and I feel cheated that you used it without my permission.”
In the case of Apple’s Hello ad specifically: there’s absolutely no way it is copyright infringement in the legal sense. But is it a rip-off? Definitely. Is ripping something off without breaking the law morally wrong?
Well, that’s for you to decide. Everyone’s morals are different. Visit site »
Someone needs to tell Christian Marclay that you can’t copyright an idea. Ideas are simply not protected under copyright law. While they’re at it, someone should tell a lot a web designers this, too. Even if something is a rip-off of an idea, that doesn’t make it illegal. Visit site »
So the web design community is all up in a huff over this company, LogoMaid, who has crafted logos that look a lot like those from Apple, GodBit, and SimpleBits. My take? People should relax.
Yes, these guys are rip-off artists. Yes, it’s pathetic and lame. Yes, I would probably be irritated if they stole my work, too. But, if you stop and think about this logically instead of reacting so emotionally, you have to ask yourself: how does this hurt Apple? How does it hurt GodBit? How does it hurt Dan Cederholm? Answer: it doesn’t.
The kind of thing can only hurt two groups of people. The first is LogoMaid themselves, who clearly are going to have their business ruined over this. But who cares? They brought it upon themselves. The second is companies or people who have purchased LogoMaid’s work. These people were manipulated and conned into paying for something that could get them sued. They have good reason to be very angry, as LogoMaid — at the very least — has cost them money, and at the worst could cost them a lawsuit from Apple.
But Dan, GodBit, and Apple are not hurt by this. Not one bit. So while it’s perfectly understandable that they would be irritated, I’d suggest they shake it off and relax a bit. You’re not really going to let a third-rate rip-off artist get you down, are you? Visit site »
Perhaps even more amusing than people who steal design are the one who defend them. James Bennett covers the various types of design theft defenders you’ll run across and how you should combat them. Visit site »
Greg Storey on the ripoff of the day, and the ripoff process in general. We designers really need to band together to do something about this — it is really hurting our industry. There are way too many hacks in this field, and we need to find a way to educate consumers of design so they don’t keep giving business to hacks instead of professionals. Visit site »
Cabel and crew make light of the many instances of them being ripped off. Notable not only for humor’s sake, but also for the nice Javascript GUI and sexy Old West-style design work. Visit site »
Poor High 5 Advertising. I almost feel guilty for doing this to them. Visit site »