Am I "stealing" this site?

Take a look at www . thegablesinn . com

I really like the design of this site. I am a pretty good web site programmer but lack design abilities. Often, I will find a site and make modifications and put it up on the web. My question pertains to just how much modifications are actually neccessary. Considering the above url, if I were to take that design and "flip" it so to speak so the arch goes the other way thus putting the navigation on the left instead of the right, AND change colors and some graphics within the site, WOULD THAT BE COPYRIGHT infringement? Thanks!

IMO, there are only so many ways to layout a site, and I don't believe the layout itself is copyright material. You'd be stealing if you used the same text and images, including those images that make the layout. But if you use the general design idea, apply it to your text, and build your own images, well, that's the way of the web these days.

You can look at it this way: Amazon would have a case against a lot of people (including PayPal) if they sued people taking the idea behind their layout.

Just my opinions.

Technically, if you're using their code then you are plagiarizing. This is why these things, if there's really an issue, end up having to play out in court. There is no "how much can I borrow". The definitive answer is: none. But "how much can I get away with borrowing" is the trick question.

There is a common belief that if you sample less than ten seconds of a song then this is ok. This is flat out wrong. There is no ten second rule. One distinctive sound or note in a work can be considered infringement if sampled and used.

The simple truth, however, is that if you aren't designing a commercial site which will get any appreciable notice, you probably have very little to concern yourself over especially if you only use the idea and create your own code from scratch to match the idea, rather than hack up someone's existing page to suit your needs.

For me thats the clue word!!,, If you cant make it,, DONT use it!!,,

Only use design you have made from scratch,, Its no problem using other site as a base for ideas. Its how artists work. Painters start by studying the great masters of the art before making great art themself. But you cant just add a tree and call it yours!

Again:

If you cant make it,, dont use it!

of course, there's an open source solution.... try the open source web design website at http://www.oswd.org/ !

even if you cut it up for your own purposes, it's all fine and good!

text is text and that can't possible be copyrighted. The NAME could be, that's also called a trademark, but actual c-h-a-r-a-c-t-e-r-s describing an obvious function, no. (Does everyone have an 'about' link or 'contact us' link? yep)

Anyway, images are someone work, so likely there's a credit encoded inside the image file itself. So sometimes it's good to leave a disclaimer link on your site. On the disclaimer site, you point out what image came from where and why you like it. That way if the designer eventually complains for you to take it off, you are at least being honest. In the ten years I've used a disclaimer site, not once has anyone complained that I used someone's images!

No one here (sorry to say) is going to make a website with 1M visitors a day anytime soon, so most likely you can get away with it.

Generally though, the layout is what you want. Leave the images up to yourself.

cheers
sf2k

False. All text can be copyrighted, and is: a poem, lyrics for a song, a magazine article, a novel, and HTML source code inclusive. In fact, to file a copyright for source code you generally file it as a literary work and file Form TX, the same thing you'd use for your poem, news story, etc.

Thanks, but what I am looking for is not an matter of opinion, but a matter of law.

I think I've covered the actual copyright laws. For more info see: copyright.gov

??
Sorry for the confusion. If you missed it in the post, I was referring to actual characters, hence I wrote c-h-a-r-a-c-t-e-r-s, and even followed up with an example, ie: "about" or "contact us" . These are words made up of characters. The characters themselves are not copyrighted. There are limits. I was not referring to copywritten works, business names or trademarks.

hope that's a bit more clear
cheers
sf2k

I re-edited my post to be more germaine to the question and less confusing...

Ok.
Basically when it comes right down to it, it's a site with a layout that you like. This is a layout idea that some guy came up with. Copy the layout, make up you're own specific graphics, and all is well.

Think of dreamweaver etc, and a template design for a site. Yes, it also has graphics, but most are upholding the layout. These layouts are all over the web inspiring others.

Would any artist bother copyrighting the grayish filler bits of the layout? Who knows, but we can safely doubt it. Everyone learns about web-design from visiting other sites afterall.

If you made the graphic yourself from scratch and made the changes you want, it would be your graphic-- inspired by this site. A tired and true Internet tradition some would say.

So, unless the graphics are specific to a business logo etc and are likely to cause confusion with web visitors, you're fine.

Cheers
sf2k

One of the best resources I have come across in years...

↑ What sf2k said

A general design "borrow" is not stealing if you build it ground up.

"A great composer doesn't mimic, he steals" - Igor Stravinsky

Whats you site, can we see it?