Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share with you what we found was interesting that someone for the (4th time in 60 days) has ripped our site and used it as there own( http://www.prosportatv.com/ ) ... And this time I want to humiliate the company who has done this... and also bring up an issue why do people put "Copyright" on the bottom of there pages any more when it means absolutely nothing! Do people understand what "Copyright" means or even how to obtain an official copyright to there content and hard work they put in something they have created or own?

I think that most designers and design companies now just put that line on the footer of all sites just to complete the design layout making it "official"... would any of you agree? Does the word "copyright" mean anything on the internet?

P.S - our web site URL www.webrhino.biz

well i don't think he has used your images or content. he has just copied your design. can you even officially call that a rip?

hi,

yes he has used our images ... our layout consists of mainly images to make out the layout. (headers, background images, borders) even our menu style was taken etc...

Originally posted by saghir69
well i don't think he has used your images or content. he has just copied your design. can you even officially call that a rip?

Hmm. Looks like a rip to me. look closely at the images. They are stretched a bit to fit the logo and all, so they "appear" slightly different than Rhino's but they are his.

To include also we have already contacted the company and they have admitted they have stolen the design from us which I found out from one of our sales reps that this company contacted us 2 months ago for a new design.... couldn’t afford our services so they decided to rip our site.

but still leaves the question.... why do people put "Copyright" on web sites when it means nothing.

It doesn't mean "nothing". It serves as a warning that the materials presented are copyrighted to the author/owner, even if it's not a "paid for" copyright. The act of publishing to the internet (or any public medium) provides a copyright of sorts, although it does not provide for monetary damages in most cases...as I understand it.

IANAL, but this is how it was explained to me.

ohh ok i thought hey just copied the design and created his own pics and css.

www.prosportatv.com resolves to 216.193.194.166-
Domain name: PROSPORTATV.COM

Administrative Contact:
Burgess, Shawn note4shawn@yahoo.com
5486 SE Brookside St
Hillsboro, OR 97123
US
503-849-8441
Technical Contact:
Andersen, Maximiliam hostmaster@lunarpages.com
14730 Beach Blvd. Suite 102
La Mirada, California 90638
US
714-521-8150

contact their host; seems to be lunar pages and advise them of the dispute or better yet add then to every spam list known to man, along with adult search indexes- case closed. Theft is theft. And yes a design/ look and feel can be protected-
http://www.ivanhoffman.com/feel.html
gives some basic info and links to specific US copyright law.
Good luck.

thanks "cowabunga", we have already invested into our attorney to send them a letter.... these issues cost us money and time to deal with... very frustrating :angry:

Webrhino, on a funnier side - & off topic

http://www.web-rocket.com/ (from your posrtfolio)

and

http://web.archive.org/web/20040410185836/http://resellyourweb.com/


I see a LOT of similarity between ceonex's design and yours.

Which one is a RIP OFF ?

LMAO !!

The similarities between we-rocket and the other aren't that great, there are a few similar elements mainly in the header.

Originally posted by Froggy
The similarities between we-rocket and the other aren't that great, there are a few similar elements mainly in the header.

Am I blind ?

The entire structure is copied :) - hope the hosting company ( web rocket ) knows this.

OR

Sometime the clients might pressure the design firms to produce something very similar and this might be a result - lil bit of over zeal

In any case, there is no reason to copy - I believe web rhino has enough creative skiils to get something original for their clients.

The entire structure is not copied. But also there is nothing bad about copying the "structure" of a site, the problem here is the site has a similar look and feel not "structure", which by that I assume you mean layout etc.

Wow Tamer, they may have copied you, but they totally butchered it too! I can see why they were looking for a designer in the first place. They reduced your site down to a steamy pile of poo. The only reason you might say it's not a rip is because they did such a bad job of reproducing it!

to the comment/slander made that our firm copied the resellyourweb design, let me make it clear that our client "webrocket" after 4 very good design revisions insisted that we look at resellyourweb design as he really liked this site and would not accept nothing else but a layout similar to this. we did not rip off the design and made sure of this we are very capable of producing high quality web sites that our clients pay top dollar for.

Tamer, no doubt you guys create high quality work. Don't worry about the odd few ;)

It only means nothing if you are not prepared to enforce your copyright. Whilst the expense of directly going after the person may prevent you taking any action it is often worth a quick email to the hosting company that they are using and pointing out the copyright infringement of one of their clients and asking them to take action before you proceed with any legal action, whether you will take any legal action or not doesn't matter.

thats the right option, hosting company shd take care of the issue, still its also worth to call them up or send them a email warning @prosportatv.com

WebRhino i think you have great deal of innovations and styles, i know it is realy depressing to see any work ripped, also to be ripped means that you are at higher quality.

To those rippers : why do you rip ? why don't you make your own style ?

It's an abvious rip but why spend money on those loosers?

Just email them first telling you that you will take actions if they don't remove the design or pay you a fee to use it. If they then refuse contact their webhost telling them that one of their customer has copyright material on their server and that you will take legal actions if the material is not removed. After that you should contact your lawyer if the don't take actions.

Sorry to hear about this RIP mate, I wouldn't worry though...they've made a meal out of it :)

might I suggest posting this on ripperhunting.com? They have done some good in the past, although they don't take legal actions, they do convince people to take down layouts.

If you want to humiliate them, then report it. Ripperhunting.com is a very popular website.

Hmmm,

I would really not call this a rip, I mean it has the same colors somewhat and design patterns but it does have a difference in design as they changed many things they did not copy your website 100% I would just let it go....



Originally posted by WebRhino CEO
Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share with you what we found was interesting that someone for the (4th time in 60 days) has ripped our site and used it as there own ... And this time I want to humiliate the company who has done this... and also bring up an issue why do people put "Copyright" on the bottom of there pages any more when it means absolutely nothing! Do people understand what "Copyright" means or even how to obtain an official copyright to there content and hard work they put in something they have created or own?

I think that most designers and design companies now just put that line on the footer of all sites just to complete the design layout making it "official"... would any of you agree? Does the word "copyright" mean anything on the internet?

P.S - our web site URL

seems like everyone has there own opinion what a rip is....for those who said it is not a rip, the company has already admited the blame of stealing the web site and we have record they contacted our west coast sales last month for a design quote.... and for the record anyone who copies a web site layout by going (File>>Save as) and then constructing the site even similar to the orginal is RIP! Us creative designers should not stay up for days thinking of a uniqe design and some start up company comes by and takes it... i'm sure any "real" designer understands...

This issue is hard to deal with...as there is a big gray area between what is a "rip off" and getting ideas from someone elses work. Clearly everyone does the latter...but when does this start to become ripping off? Hard to say. With that said I don't think the case posted about is anywhere in this gray area...obvious rip off.

Whether you want to admit it or not the internet is a free for all. Pirated software, web site designs, Touching things that don't belong to you. The internet is filled with kids that don't know any better and adults that just don't care. It is obvious to me he 'used' your design. Should he at the least have left your copyright in the code? You know, the "original design by 'x' and modified by 'z'. Yeah sure. Perhaps then you would have even allowed that if he asked. But is he as worried about this as you are? No. The reason? Because you can't do anything about it. And he knows it. So don't you. The best thing you can do is silently ignore. Suck it up so to speak. Better get used to it now because people are not getting any nicer. Bottom line is, it's a bad situation but you can't change it. So he has used poor behavior and decisions. Your not going to get your revenge on this guy by littering forums with his irresponsible behavior. I know what it's like to code. That code is yours and yours alone. But if you do not want it taken do not put it online. Same with security. Nothing is impenetrable. If it is that sensitive keep it offline. If it makes any difference I appreciate the hard work YOU put into that design. Keep up the good work, and if you see someone used it, know he in some way appreciated it too and smile. You can't do much else.

i hope i'm not "littering" the forums =- )

No, of course not. You know what I meant. Maybe that was a bad choice of word, littering. When I said littering I didn't mean this forum exclusively, I meant running across the internet littering different forums with your bad experience with this guy. Trying to get back at him. Your not going to humiliate this clown because he already made it quite clear he has no conscience by him using your layout in the first place. He does not care. For this reason I am telling you these things to stop you from wasting any more of your valuable time. As I said, the situation is stale.

ya i know you were just messing around rewtkid and i thank you for your input into this subject.

No, I was serious in the entirety of my posts, I think you just read it wrong or I wrote it wrong. Read my post above this one because you posted again faster than I could fix my wording in it by rediting. Your welcome for my two cents. The situation is stale but don't let him get to you. He can't look at "his" design and be nearly as proud as you are when you not only see and admire it where you put it but where other people are putting it as well!

Originally posted by the_pm
Wow Tamer, they may have copied you, but they totally butchered it too! I can see why they were looking for a designer in the first place. They reduced your site down to a steamy pile of poo. The only reason you might say it's not a rip is because they did such a bad job of reproducing it!

:agree:

Not very good, are they?

I had not thought to look at the original as well. I told you this would end up with your true talent being recognized and shown to the masses. They sure chopped it up. What an abortion.

haha, This post is classic.

Just wanted to add "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"


:)

You got it!

Its incredible... there is people who are not be able to do a good job even ripping other websites.

Your site deserve better rippers...

Well is it me or did I miss something

The rocket site has clearly posted on the bottom left that the site was designed by web rhino. ??????

No arguments here Tamer, You guys do excellent work.



http://www.web-rocket.com/


Ok I see, You did design the web rocket site. My mistake

What idiots! What losers! How can they be so retarded!?
Take them to court!! Threaten them by email! DO SOMETHING!

This thread has spiraled out of control. It's more like advertising now. Let it go. Nobody is going to sue anyone, no one is going to threaten anyone, and no one is going to do anything. This toolbox knows that too which is why he did it in the first place and why he will get away with it. It sucks, he is a dirty troll but is he really worth a two page thread? This happens every day/hour/minute/. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the original author's hard work. But us whining about this clown isn't going to make him a better person, or change his ways. I for one have unsubscribed to this thread. It just bores me now. Good luck in your fight.. Attention other crooks: http://oswd.org with all the sites like that one around it makes you wonder why they steal in the first place. It just shows you why not to fall to their mentality. But I am not surprised by anything anymore.

Another rip....

submit it to ripperhunting.com!