I've had my first web steal. Kind of a compliment I guess. Here's the story.
Did a quick design for a guy I met through some temp work (http://www.prestonrecruit.co.uk/). No money changed hands, I did it as a favour/experience.
I'm tracking it through Google Analytics and find a referring link from http://www.dandbbros.co.uk/. I go to the link and this guy has my site on his portfolio. He also has a "testimonial" saying how pleased the guy is with their work.
I sent him an email asking why he has the site in his portfolio. Here is what I got back:
Hi keith,
No doubt about you designing the web site but I designed a contact us page for him of which is currently been displayed on his site. And the site being on my site is also to state that my company is currently managing his site.
I suggest if you have got any issues with that you pick it up with my legal team on legal@dandbbros.co.uk so the issue is resolved ASAP.
Thanks Sales Department
Where does this leave me? I didn't know that the sites hosting had changed or that someone else was managing the site. I am currently linking to the same site through my portfolio.
It's a compliment when someone uses a couple of aspects of your designs in their work (while making it their own). Blatantly posting your design on their portfolio as if they created it is just wrong. Maybe you could get the client to help you, show them the testimonial he has posted.
Sorry I don't know how else to help or what you should do about it as I'm only just getting into web design myself, really hope you get it sorted out.
I think the problem is mainly because you handed him the stuff - he didn't steal it off you... if it was a live site that he had ripped then that's different...
If he is claiming to be a web designer - oh boy. lol
The 'contact our legal department' is just designed to put you off. This company was registered in Oct 2009 by http://www.a1companies.com/ an off-the-shelf company formation agency - typically used by one man companies and small outfits. The chances of them actually having a legal department are very slim.
The problem is these links/screenshots are just listed under a section called "Clients". As far as I can tell he is not making any claims to have designed the sites, merely that they are current clients of his.
However, this could be misleading advertising. An advertisement can be considered misleading if it "creates a false impression, even if everything stated in it may be literally true."
Of course, I am not a lawyer. You should try contacting the OFT or seek advice from a qualified legal professional if you think it's worth pursuing.
Hi Keith, As discussed in the mail I stated the display of your previous client is to state that the client is within my client list but you seem not to have accepted that. Like advised in my e-mail to yourself, I stated if you had a problem please do get in touch with my legal team of which contacted the legal team on the 17th of Feb. 2009. I am certain you got a reply to this as I was also forwarded a copy.
Below is the copy of both your mail and my legal department. I am freely happy to a chat with you to resolve this but in no chance will I be displaying a link to your website on my site as it is known as free advertising. As we are both in the same line of business this will not be taking place.
Might I add a request for yourself to take down the forums you have posted on both css-tricks forums and http://www.webdesignerforum.co.uk/topic ... -can-i-do/. As this is damage to my company reputation. I will be willing and happy to carry on further legally having you take it down.
From keith to my legal department
Date: 17 February 2010 at 13:56 Subject: Copyright Infringement
To whom it may concern,
I have noticed that you are using http://www.prestonrecruit.co.uk on your portfolio of work. Most elements of this site were designed by me (Keith Devon) and no permission has been given for replication of this design. Your use of material from my design constitutes an infringement of our copyright and therefore subjects you to substantial liability under copyright law.
As the site is now being hosted/managed by D & D Bros I respect that reference to the site is reasonable. If it is only the contact form that you have changed then reference to *that form only* would be acceptable. To keep the site on your portfolio please add "site managed by D & D Bros" and "site designed by kdev" with a link to my home page, http://www.keithdevon.com. Otherwise please remove reference to the design completely.
We would prefer to promptly resolve this matter without legal action and trust that your prompt cooperation will allow us to do so. Please send me confirmation that the infringing material will be immediately removed/changed from your web site so that this matter can be resolved. Thank you for your cooperation.
Date: 17 February 2010 at 16:32 Subject: Re: Copyright Infringement
We would like to acknowledge the issues you have raised with regards to copyright infringement and clarify that there is no case to answer. After contacting your previous client, we have been made aware that you were not involved in designing the website as per definition;http://www.thefreedictionary.com/designand/orhttp://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/design?view=uk . This is due to the fact that the website design was provided for by way of a generic template, which was in fact provided to you by the said client. Further to this, copyright law can only be enforced in the instance of the content within the template, however, the content was also provided to you by the client. As the client paid you for the design of the logo, it is now the property of the client, and you were in the knowledge of the planned use of the logo, i.e. to be used in conjunction with an online facility when completing the transaction. Therefore the screenshot displayed within the D & B Bros website is merely, a representation of the client’s online facility and not an amplification of the design ideals of D & B Bros nor does the positioning of the screenshot indicate this. In addition to this, contrary to the beliefs evident within your message, there has been no replication of any element ‘designed’ by Keith Devon and therefore acknowledgement to you will not be made. We trust this clarifies the issues. Regards Legal Team
If what D&D say is true (welcome to the forums btw - shame it could not have been under better circumstances) you have no battle Keith. Claiming you designed a template is the same as them claiming they designed it.
I would say that D&D could be misleading a little by adding it to their clients list after stating the main part of their business is Web Design. I would recommend that D&D be more specific about what services they provide for their clients to clear up misunderstandings that could occur.
Also I still remain on my request that Keith takes off the comments posted on forum as it is a Defamation of Character
The term defamation of character is often used to describe accusations of slander, libel or both. Slander involves verbal derogatory statements, while libel involves written ones. In a court of law, the plaintiff pursuing the lawsuit would charge defamation of character to cover any form of false or damaging allegations.
As stated to Keith in a phone conversation, I am willing to take this further legal but he is so adamant to my request. i am in no where wrong including a screenshot of my clients info on my website (obviously with consent of the client).
I will be happy to answer anymore question in regards to this case.
While I agree linking to your client on your website doesn't put you in the wrong, linking to their site with a picture of their layout on a web design company's page does make it seem like you designed it.
Even though keith may have used a template, you still didn't design the layout either. If you are going to link to their site using an image of their layout, you definitely need to have a note saying you didn't design it. Especially if you are a web design company, as that is VERY misleading. Did you do the designs of any of the other websites in the Client section on your website?
The team at D&B Bros are very accommodating and understand the importance on delivering 'on-time' and 'on-budget' projects. They provided a very professional and flexible service that met all of our objectives and are a pleasure to work with. They have transformed our website and created a new image for our organisation. They have been incredibly helpful with not only our website but also with our promotional activities for the internet as well.
That leads people to believe they created the whole thing....all that just for a contact page, which is in fact just some code that was added onto an existing design.... :oops:
I think the legal department, the sales department and everyone else running this site are just one person. I would not be intimidated by the legal "team" in the legal department. Unfortunately there is little you can do, but it does seem to bug them that you have posted your problem in forums...Hum :!: :!:
The "template" used was one that I designed for use on similar simple web pages. I did the site for FREE, so thought that using a template that I'd already built would save time. Definitely my design.
Lots of lessons learned from this little adventure.
I think the legal department is also just the same guy as any other "department" they have at dandb. Simply put if you designed it and they are claiming they did, which seems to be the case after browsing around they should clarify that they only did one part or give credit to you, no questions asked! By the way Defamation of Character can only occur if what you are saying is considered false, but in this case its not false at all you are stating facts and in the clear. I will say that seems how you did not receive payment there is really nothing you can do other than get a statement from the company you did the work for and provide that when dandb "takes farther legal action". Not going to happen but this a huge error on his behalf in both judgment and business ethics.
I've had my first web steal. Kind of a compliment I guess. Here's the story.
Did a quick design for a guy I met through some temp work (http://www.prestonrecruit.co.uk/). No money changed hands, I did it as a favour/experience.
I'm tracking it through Google Analytics and find a referring link from http://www.dandbbros.co.uk/. I go to the link and this guy has my site on his portfolio. He also has a "testimonial" saying how pleased the guy is with their work.
I sent him an email asking why he has the site in his portfolio. Here is what I got back:
Where does this leave me? I didn't know that the sites hosting had changed or that someone else was managing the site. I am currently linking to the same site through my portfolio.
Any advice would be great!
Keith
Are you saying the design stolen is actually the one now used for that site? (http://www.dandbbros.co.uk)
I still have all of the original .psd and .ai files as well as the HTML and CSS.
Still not sure what I can do though.
He hasn't copied the design. He has just re-hosted it and claimed the design as his own on his portfolio.
Keith
Sorry I don't know how else to help or what you should do about it as I'm only just getting into web design myself, really hope you get it sorted out.
If he is claiming to be a web designer - oh boy. lol
The problem is these links/screenshots are just listed under a section called "Clients". As far as I can tell he is not making any claims to have designed the sites, merely that they are current clients of his.
However, this could be misleading advertising. An advertisement can be considered misleading if it "creates a false impression, even if everything stated in it may be literally true."
Of course, I am not a lawyer. You should try contacting the OFT or seek advice from a qualified legal professional if you think it's worth pursuing.
As discussed in the mail I stated the display of your previous client is to state that the client is within my client list but you seem not to have accepted that. Like advised in my e-mail to yourself, I stated if you had a problem please do get in touch with my legal team of which contacted the legal team on the 17th of Feb. 2009. I am certain you got a reply to this as I was also forwarded a copy.
Below is the copy of both your mail and my legal department. I am freely happy to a chat with you to resolve this but in no chance will I be displaying a link to your website on my site as it is known as free advertising. As we are both in the same line of business this will not be taking place.
Might I add a request for yourself to take down the forums you have posted on both css-tricks forums and http://www.webdesignerforum.co.uk/topic ... -can-i-do/. As this is damage to my company reputation. I will be willing and happy to carry on further legally having you take it down.
From keith to my legal department
From D&B Bros legal team to Keith Devon
I would say that D&D could be misleading a little by adding it to their clients list after stating the main part of their business is Web Design. I would recommend that D&D be more specific about what services they provide for their clients to clear up misunderstandings that could occur.
Also I still remain on my request that Keith takes off the comments posted on forum as it is a Defamation of Character
(http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-defamat ... racter.htm)
As stated to Keith in a phone conversation, I am willing to take this further legal but he is so adamant to my request. i am in no where wrong including a screenshot of my clients info on my website (obviously with consent of the client).
I will be happy to answer anymore question in regards to this case.
While I agree linking to your client on your website doesn't put you in the wrong, linking to their site with a picture of their layout on a web design company's page does make it seem like you designed it.
Even though keith may have used a template, you still didn't design the layout either. If you are going to link to their site using an image of their layout, you definitely need to have a note saying you didn't design it. Especially if you are a web design company, as that is VERY misleading. Did you do the designs of any of the other websites in the Client section on your website?
http://www.dandbbros.co.uk/testimonial.html in which they state
That leads people to believe they created the whole thing....all that just for a contact page, which is in fact just some code that was added onto an existing design.... :oops:
I think the legal department, the sales department and everyone else running this site are just one person. I would not be intimidated by the legal "team" in the legal department. Unfortunately there is little you can do, but it does seem to bug them that you have posted your problem in forums...Hum :!: :!:
The "template" used was one that I designed for use on similar simple web pages. I did the site for FREE, so thought that using a template that I'd already built would save time. Definitely my design.
Lots of lessons learned from this little adventure.
Keith