Designer Thieves Options

[res8zenith]

was wondering lately i've seen designs that look very similiar to other designs so i was wondering, what is the best thing to do when you catch someone stealing your material/ideas/codes/designs or structures for their own uses or sites?

what if they are using your stuff but credit you?
what if they are using your stuff and alter the credits?
what if they are using your stuff and remove the credits?

**normally i email them or comment on the site and tell them to take it off or i'll talk to their hosting services xD that's the best i got, and if their ashamed of what they did, they put the credits up or completely change everything before next sunrise. some are rude enough to slander & object the claim when clearly the material is stolen.

[MoneyIsDaMotive]

so what if you look at a layout
and you got a idea for another layout
same style just not the same brushes/codes/font?

[synapse]

so what if you look at a layout
and you got a idea for another layout
same style just not the same brushes/codes/font?

That really has to be looked at in a case-by-case basis. Not just in general. Your inspiration can come from another website. It could even use the same fonts. However, the placement, images, etc. Should not be reproduced in your design. You can look at, for example, a site that uses abstract colored waves, and be inspired by that to create your own site that has an abstract colored wave background, but it should be created solely by you. And the website, should be completely different. Don't try to match point-to-point their entire design.