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Subject:Re: Styles for User Guides From:Jane Bergen <jbergen1 -at- EARTHLINK -dot- NET> Date:Fri, 2 Apr 1999 20:43:57 -0600
Sharon Burton writes:
>I do agree that people will ask for a manual that looks like someone
else.
>And that there is not ethical problem with creating one that looks
like
>someone else's. Happens all the time. I did it recently for a client.
That
>is called good ideas being used again and again.
>
>But, I cannot, in good conscience, re-use that specific template
again. The
>client asked for and paid for that specific template with those tag
names,
>what ever they might have been. Reusing that specific template with
those
>tag names for another client would, in my opinion, be stealing. The
client
We're really splitting hairs here. After all, what IS a template? It's
just a collection of style names. Whether they are applied
appropriately is a different story. I suppose, if the template is
really *special* then it would be similar to stealing someone's web
page (HTML layout and artwork) and just inserting your own content.
That would be wrong.
What I probably did not say specifically enough in my first message is
this: if it's a work of art (for example, some kind of ziggy stripe
and decorative boxes and tables, first pages of chapters, special
footers and headers) to the point that it is really, especially,
obviously, tremendously, noticably distinctive, then of course it
would be wrong to reuse it. And of course artwork is absolutely a
no-no to steal in any case (except public domain clipart). But page
layout alone does not equate with a work of art. If the new client
just really likes the font choices, the use of white space, the
general layout and document conventions, then I truly do not see this
as "intellectual property" in any way. I guess it's boiling down to a
subjective call..... lots of factors come into play, such as:
- Did your client specifically say "We love this look and never want
any of our manuals to look any different? We want this to be 'our
look' and no one else's!"
- Did your client buy some unusual fonts just for this template?
- Is there nothing else in the universe of manuals that looks similar
to your template already?
Good discussion, though, and I think template-stealing is a first for
this list (and I'm one of the old timers).
Jane
Jane Bergen, Technical Communication
jbergen1 -at- earthlink -dot- net
web page for technical communication: http://home.earthlink.net/~jbergen1/
