Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : Layout - Intellectual Propery?


elcat
10-01-2006, 01:28 PM
Hi folks

Can someone kind please offer some guidance regarding IP...

I am developing my own website at the moment. My coding ability is fine, however my skills are a little green on the side of artistic and creative web development.

So i figured the quickest route to a professional looking site would be to "pinch" the layout from another site.

There will be no text or imagery that relates to the site i am basing mine on and i will code the lot from scratch without touching ctrl+c or ctrl+v.

If the layout was extremely common such as a three-frame or one based upon a banner and three layers, i doubt there could be any risk of IP infringement. But the layout that i like is less common... and i used to work for the company that i'm basing mine on (though the services i offer are completely different)!

Basically the page consists of a logo, name & statement banner layer followed by a table consisting of three rows: a tab-page style navigation row, another row that is the same colour as the active tab button and another row that provides a contrasting colour band.
Then follows the main content. The main content of the page is basically text to the left and a matrix-type series of graphic, which provides various navigation options to the right. Finally there is a footer layer with some contact details on it.

No content is common between the two sites but the layout is virtually identical, although i've sleeked out some of the colour-band rows and cut down the amount of graphic links.

My knowledge on the law relating to this stuff is a bit hazy… i suppose it's like using the same key signature to make a unique riff.

Sorry for being so long-winded! Am i asking for touble here?

Robert Wellock
10-02-2006, 10:45 AM
Does it show that you have used unique creativity and if not don’t do it though if its a fairly generic layout then you can some borrow ideas.