hello, my friend sells professional web design template online. A few days ago, he spotted one of his designed templates were being used without any record of purchase from him ( the template was probably obtained from a torrent site ). My question is are there anything that my friend can do?
2007-03-25 05:08:01 · 4 answers · asked by metashockwave 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
He should first assert his rights to the owner of the offending website. Gather evidence together that he was the originator. And if the the offending website doesn't take the design down quickly, he should contact a good IP lawyer and sue.
2007-03-25 05:16:00 · answer #1 · answered by dude 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when you say "template" i think of a blank form where people add their own material. blank forms are specifically excluded from copyright protection. imagine if the publisher of ruled tablets could claim copyright for everthing that was written down on them by a customer. A blank form is considered a "tool" where people add creative content to construct a work, such as a webpage. The rights to the product generated belong to the person using the tool and is not an infringement to the tool manufacturer.
There are ways of protecting programs from unpaid use, for example using a kind of software key that is unique for each computer so a download on one can not just be copied over to another. sometimes a dongle sold with the program that must be attached to the computer for the program to run. this is what is required if your friend did not intend for his work to become "shareware".
2007-03-26 15:11:41 · answer #2 · answered by lare 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most templates (and other forms of artwork or software) are copyrighted protected as soon as they are published.
So, their unauthorized use is copyright infringement.
However, without them being registered, he could only sue to have the use stopped (an injunction), and to recover any actual business losses (actual compensatory damages), such as what it would have cost the person to buy the template.
In the US, registered copyrights allow for statutory damages, without needing to prove actual business losses.
Suing for the small stuff can be dome in small claims court, without an attorney. Registration and suing for statutory damages is more complex, and he should get an attorney.
2007-03-25 05:50:22 · answer #3 · answered by coragryph 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not likely.
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2007-03-25 05:18:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋