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.

[emarielayouts]

I feel coding is something that should be shared. I've come across designers who have refused to share coding on how to do something, especially on myspace where there so much you need to consider.

As far as designs, it's a very gray area. If the design is copied EXACTLY then you do have a problem. If the person is not making a profit on it, I don't see much harm, just ask them to remove it or credit you properly. I offered a lot of free layouts, some of which the ideas came from other layouts. Concepts can be 'copied' I guess but you must change it. Do you know how many iPod myspace layouts there were? I even did one myself and they all pretty much looked alike using the iPod in the center with the while background.

But when designing, if you got the idea from someone else, you should credit it somewhere. It doesn't have to be on the layout itself, but it does need to be somewhere. I got an idea for a layout from another layout I saw on CB, and even submitted that to CB on my old profile emarie2470 and I did credit it in a link on the layout and I think on the description as well. Although the design was not exact, I did get the concept from someone else.