Ask HN: Themeforest let another author steal my design. Any advice? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Themeforest let another author steal my design. Any advice?

20 pointsPhilipDaineko22 comments

I am the author of http://wrapbootstrap.com/preview/WB0T41TX4

Just few mins ago I found an almost copy of my item on themeforest - http://themeforest.net/item/admetro-responsive-admin-template/5340890

Before submitting my item to wrapbootstrap I tried themeforest several times but was rejected.

I am not sure about html-part, but in terms of design it's copy.

Any advice?

Thank you

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No offense, but I think the other one is way better. The fonts, the search bar, and the spacing of everything is much more well thought out. I think the "stolen" one is actually more clean and less busy than yours.

There are similarities, but I don't think he/she stole your design.

For example, look at the login screen:

OP's (PhilipDaineko): http://demo.okendoken.com/login.html

Other person's: http://www.sean-theme.com/admetro/login.html

Second that, I think "inspired" is a more apt term than "stole" and is a common practice in webdesign/apps.

Yep, I was thinking about it too. I probably lacked those little tweaks to get my item approved on themeforest. At least I see now what had to be done :)

I don't think it looks much the same, and the code doesn't look similar either… I was going to compare some of the CSS class names, but can't even find components that are the same. The demos have different structure, and the components are different in style.

The only real similarities I could spot are the use of "Statistics and more" at the top, and a similar background.

Other than that you are both just using similar things that all admin panels themes have.

You use d3, he uses flot.

You use backbone, he doesn't.

In fact, not sure there is much in common at all.

Do you have any specific examples?

Also, the background, did OP create it? or did OP find a free one on subtlepatterns.com?

Right, the most common part is design. Don't you find them similar? That was the point

They don't seem at all similar to me. The only thing they have in common is that they're both dashboards.

> Any advice?

Under what license was the original published? If it was an open-source license, and if the copy includes your copyright notice, then there's no wrongdoing and nothing you can do.

If it was an open-source license and your copyright notice is not present, and if there is any line-by-line copying from your original to the copy, you should be able to prove that the copier simply copied and pasted your code. This kind of copying can be proven using textual matching and the mathematical improbability of an inadvertent exact copy.

If the work was published under anything other than an open-source license, it shouldn't have been published in any way that could be copied (i.e. in source-code form). In this case, any substantial copying is a violation, but you would have a very hard time pursuing a legal remedy.

> I am not sure about html-part, but in terms of design it's copy.

If we're talking about design, not code copying, things become more difficult. Ask yourself how obvious to a practitioner of the art the layout and functions are. To pursue a legal remedy, you would have to show something unique about your design that sets it apart, and you would have to show that someone copied your specific work as opposed to copying the general design principles of similar programs.

First I was under the impression that I will see a clone but to be frank it doesn't look like an almost copy.

The only similarity I see in both the designs is the layout. Other than that, there are so many differences even in the subtleties.

You might want to report it to them but I am not sure if any action will be taken because they can't be distinguished very clearly.

Could he actually have "stolen" it? Don't you both continue to have use of the theme? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to say that he shared it?

My advice is to let it spread as far as it can go, and make your money selling t-shirts or support contracts.

-1, Troll

Themeforest wants to be free.

http://xkcd.com/1228/

If the design is stolen, then he stole it and made it better... IMO...

Both of your themes also look similar to Metronic Theme in my opinion (especially the Discussion box). http://www.keenthemes.com/preview/index.php?theme=metronic_a...

Have you contacted themeforest yet, what do they say?

Looking at them side by side they look very similar but not the same. Unless they've actually ripped off your HTML or CSS I can't imagine you're going to get very far. I could be totally wrong though.

They are pretty close, but at the same time they are different enough not to be considered a rip of one another. General look and feel is very similar, but then it is also similar to a lot of other designs.

It look like you won. The theme is no longer on themeforest.

That's a real shame, I wanted to buy the themeforest one :(

not sure what you can do. perhaps there's a mechanism to contact theme forest. but, how do we (or anyone) know which is original?

it's very similar, but it's not identical; icons and colors are different, there are additional widgets in admetro...etc

also, fyi, i notice in your preview, there's overflow of content in the feed widget.

Hire a lawyer if you think it'll be worth $400 or more.

It looks similar but not the same, I don't know...

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

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