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--- macewen -at- WORDTEK -dot- COM wrote:
> Anyone have any experience with blatant copyright
> violations of web page material? We just discovered
> that someone copied almost all of our web site and
> changed a few logos and names to create their own
> site. Very odd for someone in our business who claims
> to be a web site designer, but it happened.
I'm not a copyright lawyer. If you think you have a claim, *I* think you would
be better served to discuss it with a lawyer.
Now, as for my layman's opinion, I don't think you'll get very far with any
claim. Yes, the layout seems to be identical, and yes, even the wording and
placement of information seems similar. But one could argue--I would--that the
content is different: different addresses, a few different links, some
differences in wording, certainly different logos. Yes, it does look like
someone has used your site as a template for their own, but I sincerely wonder
if that constitutes a copyright violation. A three column page layout is not
copyrightable, I believe, nor is a use of fonts or font sizes.
It looks like sincere flattery, if you ask me, but I doubt you could make a
copyright violation case unless you can prove they're using your documents and
copied your documents. My cursory examination does not reveal that. But again,
and I can't stress this enough, mine is NOT A LEGAL OPINION. You need to pay a
lawyer for that.
=====
Tom Murrell
Lead Technical Writer
Alliance Data Systems
Columbus, Ohio mailto:tmurrell -at- columbus -dot- rr -dot- com
Personal Web Page - http://home.columbus.rr.com/murrell/
Page Last Updated 07/15/01
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