Copycats

[ladymuck]

I copied your SKA weeks ago. It's on eBay now forra fiver.

I thought about buying but thought the postage charge a bit steep.

[BlasterBates]

The other thing is, what's the point? The idea isn't copyright, what is, is your company name, and your code. If it's the business concept that is clever then I'm afraid that isn't protected, otherwise we'd all still be driving model T-Fords.

If their code has comments that are in your code like "DP May 2003 This is a temporary hack", then you can easily prove they copied it, otherwise it might be very difficult.

[AtW]

Dim - how dod you find out about them anyway?

[DimPrawn]

The used to be a supplier of ours and now they are obviously trying to go straight to joe public and cut out the middle man.

[AtW]

If they are in decent jurisdiction (EU/USA) then its fairly easy to pursvade to change layout of HTML, but if they are in 3rd world then you got no chance.

[mcquiggd]

What's their url? Im sure a few enquiries from assorted Daleks, Alien Lizards and Monkeys will put them off a bit...

[Dalek Supreme]

I'll give 'em a quick blast if you like.

[Fungus]

Yes, that's why its best to have something that is very hard to copy... like SKA

Thats' why it's best to have something that no-one would want to copy .... like SKA.

That's the Finnish airline isn't it. No, it's a brand of yogurt. Or maybe a well known brand of lubricant. I'm confused.

[TheMonkey]

The only way to get out of that is:

1. Sue their arses off if it's prior art or code is the same (my XHTML has some unique bits hidden in the whitespace usually that most editors don't pick up).

2. Protect your ideas!!! Even though the EU patent system is absurdly difficult to get a patent, if you idea is good enough, get a patent and then use it to leverage their shutdown. If you don't get a patent you're sh1te!

3. Outsell

4. Outmarket

5. Send them a fake nail bomb or a box of dolls heads or something.

6. Write a review for a magazine that slates them and get a good solicitor.

7. Be more professional.

8. Burn their offices down. I recommend a simple incendiary made from thermite with a powder detonator that spreads it round their reception after you post it at 2AM.

9. Order computer weekly, management today and free local papers for every employee (that constitutes a fire hazard).

10. Pay for insider information.

11. Swipe their staff for 50p an hour more.

12. Order them pizzas from every pizza place in the area to turn up on the same time and date.

13. Send them a combine harvester cash on delivery.

You can tell I've had that situation before

Place I'm working has the same problem. We're just going on the fact we're better and have more money

I'm trying to get an EU patent on my plan B which is NOT AT ALL easy.

[thunderlizard]

In very broad terms, and assuming the Berne convention:

A business model isn't covered under copyright (and isn't patentable either). The look and feel of your website, and almost certainly the code that created it, is covered under copyright. If you can reasonably prove in court that their website is a copy (basically i.e. not a coincidence) then the court can make them stop doing it. If you want to get money, there's no need to prove that they were trying to pass off as you, which is a different thing altogether. You just need to prove that they were making money off the back of ingenuity and/or effort that is yours.