Serious question about theme and copyrights.

[RagingPenguin]

Greetings, I have a few questions about the development of custom themes and copyrights. Before I get into the questions please visit my site with it's default template. ( http://www.wizardingrealm.com ) Obviously this is really image heavy and needs to trimmed up. In addition, my users have been pushing for an alternate color theme. The color set most voted for was for black/midnight blue theme. I created a new template and changed the colors according to my users feedback. Unfortunately, it's starting to look a lot like the CosForums.com site, which is also a Harry Potter forum. Here is where my remaining question comes in. How close is too close considering we both use the same system? There are going to be a great deal of similarities because of this. I tried hard to make my current theme substantially different, but now that it looks like a change is in order, I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to tick anybody off, but on the same side of the coin, shouldn't I feel free to design my site the way I want, providing I do not directly, or indirectly steal any images or truly 'custom' templating changes from another? For instance, what if any one of us wanted to move their 'What's Happening' box to between the navbar and the rest of the site, just as those at CoSForums.com have? Is that concept considered theirs? In essence, I need to know what I can, and cannot do, with my template, considering I will be dong all my own coding and image creation. Here's the unfinished theme my users and I have put together. ( http://www.wizardingrealm.com/index.php?styleid=7 )

Please advise.

[pinfo]

I would not think this applies to colors in this instance, only custom images.

I do not believe you can copyright what colors are used where. Imagine if someone tried to say no one else could use white background with black text because they used it first. It just won't fly.

You could probably use the exact same coloring as any other site as long as you're not using any images they customized.

Even if they feel you are in violation, they are going to have an attorney send you a cease and desist notice, in which case the attorney will tell them if they even have a case or not. I don't think any attorney would waste their time, or advise a client that they could ever claim copyright to colors used.

[RagingPenguin]

I kinda figured that. However, I still don't want to seem like a total rip. I've arrived at my design on my own accord though and feel I have the right to use it. However, I am awaiting comments from cosforums staff, who I know post here, to decide. I don't want any ill feelings from other users of vBulletin.

Case in point is that my current design is a very close adaptation of my friends InvisionBoard site ( http://galacticsenate.com (http://galacticsenate.com/) ) T'Bone and I know each other well though so it wasn't an issue.

[Morgoth]

Greetings, I have a few questions about the development of custom themes and copyrights. Before I get into the questions please visit my site with it's default template. ( http://www.wizardingrealm.com ) Obviously this is really image heavy and needs to trimmed up. In addition, my users have been pushing for an alternate color theme. The color set most voted for was for black/midnight blue theme. I created a new template and changed the colors according to my users feedback. Unfortunately, it's starting to look a lot like the CosForums.com site, which is also a Harry Potter forum. Here is where my remaining question comes in. How close is too close considering we both use the same system? There are going to be a great deal of similarities because of this. I tried hard to make my current theme substantially different, but now that it looks like a change is in order, I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to tick anybody off, but on the same side of the coin, shouldn't I feel free to design my site the way I want, providing I do not directly, or indirectly steal any images or truly 'custom' templating changes from another? For instance, what if any one of us wanted to move their 'What's Happening' box to between the navbar and the rest of the site, just as those at CoSForums.com have? Is that concept considered theirs? In essence, I need to know what I can, and cannot do, with my template, considering I will be dong all my own coding and image creation. Here's the unfinished theme my users and I have put together. ( http://www.wizardingrealm.com/index.php?styleid=7 )

Please advise.


I believe this is not the first time you have used CoSForums.com as a template to model your own site on. You came across another of my staff members on another site where you were asked to not directly copy CoSForums.com's format.

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?p=512799#post512799

Whereas I believe you resolved the matter with that staff member then, the fact that you are once again citing CoS Forums as a primary source for your design leads me to suspect that you are simply using our site as a template to create your own, leaving out certain details that create a foggy area between what can be determined as plagarism and just coincidential design.

There are a fair few vB powered HP forums out there that are very unique in look and feel, CoS Forums being one of them. Though pinfo may well be accurate about the colour scheme, I will however not hesitate to seek legal action against you if you continue to use my forum as "inspiration" for your own site, that includes adopting graphics of a similar nature and use of the rotating banner effect. Irrespective of the legal issues, a great deal of hard work and effort has gone into designing our site and it just doesn't sit well with me to see a site with a default style that would have any observant HP fan go "That's CoS Forums!" Anyone would think you are trying to create that impression in order to lure people to your site...

As for http://galacticsenate.com. I see this http://www.wizardingrealm.com/index.php?styleid=1 is similar to that page. Again, "inspiration" is used. I simply feel that you are just taking what you see on other sites and adding them to your own without a hint of original thinking. You may well have a good association with the owner of http://galacticsenate.com but you have no association with me or my staff to warrant such a drastic similarity in content.

You're other style http://www.wizardingrealm.com/index.php?styleid=6 is far more unique and sufficiently different in look and feel to warrant no similarities being made by people. You would be better off working a little harder on creating something that you can call your own that doesn't have people wondering if you've ripped someone off, which it looks to me like you are.

[RagingPenguin]

Thanks for replying Morgoth. I'll address the issue. First, who isn't "inspired" by other forums they'd been too? Second, I openly admitted to having duplicated the cosforums basic design as an introduction to the skinning system of vBulletin. I explained to your comrade that it was never meant to be seen. I made the mistake of posting my url, in order to show off my own hack, before I had replaced the template. That's all it was ever meant to be, and it no longer exists now. Third, in regard to rotating images, you haven't a leg to stand on in that regard. That's a common effect. The thing is, I never actually tried to mimic cos, it just keeps happening gradually as I start with a theme, then make changes as I go. Pretty soon, it starts looking like cos. The question is, is this really copying, or getting the same result for the the same reasons? I wish no ill will to you or your site, but I am at a loss for a solution. You seem to be overly protective of design concepts that, in my opinion, are anybody's game, whether the site is postnuke, ikonboard, static html, or vBulletin. The fact is, my server is on a small 384 DSL line, so I can't use a lot of images to make my site appeal. Considering I like the darker look, am I to be automatically screwed just because it highly resembles your own? One could say that it also resembles DarkMark.com's forums, even though I didn't intend it too. I really do want something original, which is why my current skin is the default, but be that as it may, it's draining my bandwidth because of all the images. If I took those out of my current skin, even that one resembles yours. I've used dark themes for all my sites for the past four years and now I'm running out of ideas. I really don't like the id=6 theme personally. it's too...light and bland. Rather than pick fights here, which is something I do not want to do, I am trying to be the gentleman here and work with you on this. It's a shame I couldn't just be made a staff member at cos and close my site. That'd be a lot damn easier and less headache on both our parts. Anyway, let's continue this discussion, as I think it will help others in a similar situation.

[Floris]

This isn't the place to handle disputes, please take those private (for example email)

Thread closed.