The curse of a free website template designer
I had hoped that I would never need to make a story like this public, but since some misunderstandings appear to be more difficult than others to sort out, I will do it this time.
I have been accused by a blog owner for stealing her content and re-publishing it on another blog. I won’t post the URL to the other blog since it is obviously a spam blog, but I would want all of you to read the e-mail correspondence posted by the original content owner. She has decided that I am the owner of the spam blog, or at the very least, personally responsible for the blog – which is of course not true.
So why would anyone get the idea that I run a spam blog? Well, simply because the spam blog is using the WP-Andreas09 theme by Ainslie Johnson, and my name can be found in the footer of the theme. The original content owner has completely ignored the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of blogs and websites out there that I should be “responsible of” since my name can be seen on them. This is a common misunderstanding, but it has never gone as far as getting out as a public story where my reputation and my business is threatened and where I am being called a criminal.
The simple fact is that I am a website template designer, something that anyone can find out by spending a minute on my website. The original andreas09 template is easy to find, and there is a text on my contact page that explicitly explains that I am not the right person to contact about other sites than andreasviklund.com.
This kind of misunderstandings happens to everyone who works with website template or WordPress theme design. I have done my best to avoid it, and I continue to answer about 10 e-mails every week from people who have mistaken me for being the owner of a site that uses my template designs. I am sure that this story will be sorted out soon as well, as every similar misunderstanding has been. But I can’t help feeling annoyed about having to spend working time on situations like this just because people who get their content stolen doesn’t spend a few minutes on basic research to make sure that they are attacking the right person before they go into attack-mode. That is just rude.
Edit: For further information, see the comment from signature DWK (who is the content owner) and my replies in the this post. The legal threats came after I wrote those replies, and after I sent an e-mail telling DWK that I had replied to her comment. I sent that e-mail to make sure that the misunderstanding was sorted out.
Edit 2: Situation solved and sortened out as for my part. I will not write more about this specific situation on the blog since it is none of my business, but I will very likely write more about this kind of misunderstandings in the future since it affects a lot of template designers every day.
This article was written by Andreas Viklund
Web designer, writer and the creative engine behind this website. Author of most of the free website templates, along with some of the WordPress themes.
48 comments:
Hi Andreas, I can understand the situation. Stolen content oder copying whole websites is a serious problem and nearly everybody running one or two websites or blogs had to deal with it. Certainly everybody who is a little bit familiar with the internet knows, that a designer is not responsible for the content of that site. The problem could be, that these people buy a website, have only very basic understanding of the internet and dont’ know woho to adress. I don’t think there is an easy solution. But maybe it will help if the footer link “design / template by andreas” leads to a page where you explain that you are a designer and not the owner of that site…
Hi Andreas, I can understand the situation. Stolen content oder copying whole websites is a serious problem and nearly everybody running one or two websites or blogs had to deal with it. Certainly everybody who is a little bit familiar with the internet knows, that a designer is not responsible for the content of that site. The problem could be, that these people buy a website, have only very basic understanding of the internet and dont’ know woho to adress. I don’t think there is an easy solution. But maybe it will help if the footer link “design / template by andreas” leads to a page where you explain that you are a designer and not the owner of that site…
Patrick: I do explain that on my contact page, the one page where people goes if they are looking for my contact information. Or what they believe is contact information to the owner of the site or blog that they arrived from.
The text reads: “If you came to this website from a ‘Design by Andreas Viklund’ footer link on some other website, then it is important that you know and completely understand that I don’t own, run or manage that website or blog. I am not in any way responsible for any part of it, and I am not the right person to contact unless you have questions specifically about the original template that the site is using.”
Since I added that text, I get a LOT less e-mails from people who misunderstand the credit link. But the ones who still get through, are often people who don’t do any research at all. They go directly into attack-mode. This is one such case. It didn’t even help that i sent an e-mail and wrote two comments on the previous post in this blog…
Patrick: I do explain that on my contact page, the one page where people goes if they are looking for my contact information. Or what they believe is contact information to the owner of the site or blog that they arrived from.
The text reads: “If you came to this website from a ‘Design by Andreas Viklund’ footer link on some other website, then it is important that you know and completely understand that I don’t own, run or manage that website or blog. I am not in any way responsible for any part of it, and I am not the right person to contact unless you have questions specifically about the original template that the site is using.”
Since I added that text, I get a LOT less e-mails from people who misunderstand the credit link. But the ones who still get through, are often people who don’t do any research at all. They go directly into attack-mode. This is one such case. It didn’t even help that i sent an e-mail and wrote two comments on the previous post in this blog…
Wow. I can understand that people make mistakes like that. But after reading the e-mails posted on the site you linked to, I wonder what was in that woman’s mind! I saw her comment on your previous post and the replies you wrote. Those replies should have been enough by far. You deserve more than an apology, you should charge people for taking up your time with stupidities like this!
Wow. I can understand that people make mistakes like that. But after reading the e-mails posted on the site you linked to, I wonder what was in that woman’s mind! I saw her comment on your previous post and the replies you wrote. Those replies should have been enough by far. You deserve more than an apology, you should charge people for taking up your time with stupidities like this!
hah… you’ll get that apology. all of us template designers have got threats like this, even me… and my designs are only used on a few hundred sites… this actualy appears to be a solid case of defamation so you should make sure to take screenshots and pass them on to your lawyer.
http://crimealawyers.com/ here?
hah… you’ll get that apology. all of us template designers have got threats like this, even me… and my designs are only used on a few hundred sites… this actualy appears to be a solid case of defamation so you should make sure to take screenshots and pass them on to your lawyer.
Steven: It will be sorted out soon. I’d rather spend some time on educating people, than getting my reputation damaged by aggressive ignorance. But it is indeed annoying, and getting an apology is simply fair.
Leonard: I am aware of that, and I do of course have screenshots and a saved HTML copy aldeady. But I don’t think that it will go that far. I wrote a long e-mail as a reply to the legal threat, explaining the misunderstanding and the concept of website templates and WordPress themes in detail. I can’t imagine that anyone would be want to go further after getting all the facts presented like that. But if it would actually happen, I’ll make sure to hand the case over to someone who knows their law.
Steven: It will be sorted out soon. I’d rather spend some time on educating people, than getting my reputation damaged by aggressive ignorance. But it is indeed annoying, and getting an apology is simply fair.
Leonard: I am aware of that, and I do of course have screenshots and a saved HTML copy aldeady. But I don’t think that it will go that far. I wrote a long e-mail as a reply to the legal threat, explaining the misunderstanding and the concept of website templates and WordPress themes in detail. I can’t imagine that anyone would be want to go further after getting all the facts presented like that. But if it would actually happen, I’ll make sure to hand the case over to someone who knows their law.
OK, Andreas, I give you credit for maintaining a somewhat level tone in this latest email. Your first one was rather sarcastic.
In all fairness, you can certainly understand WHY I am aggressively pursuing this, yes? You would do the same if your web template designs were being used by the same person on a regular basis, helping them make money, without proper credit to you. Of course you would. I am a friendly person too, and I love helping people make connections to others who can help them build better businesses. It’s a large part of why I have a blog. But this kind of underhanded behavior gets my hackles up – I have to protect my business and my reputation. You landed in my ‘sights’ because of the link to you as being involved with this website.
I have read your responses, and I thank you for your concise explanations and the links to further info that you provided in them and in your email. After reading them all, I see your well-made point about the limits of your responsibility here. Unless you are responsible for creating the settings that use RSS feeds to upload content to the hrantiques.com site, you are apparently not responsible for this situation. I will post this response to you on my blog, my Facebook page, and as a comment on your own site.
In addition, I humbly offer you my most sincere apology for jumping on the first name found on the offending site – your name – and accusing you of wrongdoing. Again, if you had nothing to do with the programming of settings for this blog, then you are not responsible for the theft of content. I apologize for any ill will that I or others have expressed against you because of this situation. I will post this response to you on my blog, my Facebook page, and as a comment on your own site to ensure that anyone who has read my previous statements regarding this situation sees that I am recanting my accusation and hoping for absolution for it. But oh, believe me, I am still all over this situation.
I know that keeping track of the many uses of your templates is impossible, but now that you know this particular one is putting you out there as the single available contact for it, you may just want to have that link and your name removed. It may prevent you being contacted by other writers whose content is being stolen. (Although I sincerely suspect that that site is about to be shut down.) When faced with this kind of heinous offense against them, many of us creatives whose very livelihood is threatened act first and think later. I am sure, as a designer, you understand this. I was thinking when I wrote the comments to you and on my blog, but needed to do further research before sending them. This is a mistake that many others may make when seeing your name associated with a site that has no other visible contact information.
I have obtained the information on the registered owner of that site, and am pursuing action against them. In the case that you wish to do so as well, here it is:
[domain info removed by Andreas]
Andreas, I thank you for your professional conduct in your last reply, for your patience, and for allowing me to see the entire story. I hope that my apology is sufficient to end this communication between us, even though I am quite sure that you regard me as a knee-jerk reacting hot headed artist at this point. ;) It’s ok, I can deal with that. Passion drives creativity.
OK, Andreas, I give you credit for maintaining a somewhat level tone in this latest email. Your first one was rather sarcastic.
In all fairness, you can certainly understand WHY I am aggressively pursuing this, yes? You would do the same if your web template designs were being used by the same person on a regular basis, helping them make money, without proper credit to you. Of course you would. I am a friendly person too, and I love helping people make connections to others who can help them build better businesses. It’s a large part of why I have a blog. But this kind of underhanded behavior gets my hackles up – I have to protect my business and my reputation. You landed in my ‘sights’ because of the link to you as being involved with this website.
I have read your responses, and I thank you for your concise explanations and the links to further info that you provided in them and in your email. After reading them all, I see your well-made point about the limits of your responsibility here. Unless you are responsible for creating the settings that use RSS feeds to upload content to the hrantiques.com site, you are apparently not responsible for this situation. I will post this response to you on my blog, my Facebook page, and as a comment on your own site.
In addition, I humbly offer you my most sincere apology for jumping on the first name found on the offending site – your name – and accusing you of wrongdoing. Again, if you had nothing to do with the programming of settings for this blog, then you are not responsible for the theft of content. I apologize for any ill will that I or others have expressed against you because of this situation. I will post this response to you on my blog, my Facebook page, and as a comment on your own site to ensure that anyone who has read my previous statements regarding this situation sees that I am recanting my accusation and hoping for absolution for it. But oh, believe me, I am still all over this situation.
I know that keeping track of the many uses of your templates is impossible, but now that you know this particular one is putting you out there as the single available contact for it, you may just want to have that link and your name removed. It may prevent you being contacted by other writers whose content is being stolen. (Although I sincerely suspect that that site is about to be shut down.) When faced with this kind of heinous offense against them, many of us creatives whose very livelihood is threatened act first and think later. I am sure, as a designer, you understand this. I was thinking when I wrote the comments to you and on my blog, but needed to do further research before sending them. This is a mistake that many others may make when seeing your name associated with a site that has no other visible contact information.
I have obtained the information on the registered owner of that site, and am pursuing action against them. In the case that you wish to do so as well, here it is:
[domain info removed by Andreas]
Andreas, I thank you for your professional conduct in your last reply, for your patience, and for allowing me to see the entire story. I hope that my apology is sufficient to end this communication between us, even though I am quite sure that you regard me as a knee-jerk reacting hot headed artist at this point. ;) It’s ok, I can deal with that. Passion drives creativity.
DWK: Thanks for the comment! The apology is of course accepted and appreciated. I will not write more about this specific case here (or post the domain details) since it is none of my business, so I’ll reply in an e-mail to you instead.
DWK: Thanks for the comment! The apology is of course accepted and appreciated. I will not write more about this specific case here (or post the domain details) since it is none of my business, so I’ll reply in an e-mail to you instead.
It is rather like threatening to sue the suppliers of yellow paint to Ford because someone drove a yellow Focus into your house. :)
It is rather like threatening to sue the suppliers of yellow paint to Ford because someone drove a yellow Focus into your house. :)
Interesting scenario, I think people needs to think twice or sometime thrice before taking initiatives.
@Duds: good example :)
Interesting scenario, I think people needs to think twice or sometime thrice before taking initiatives.
@Duds: good example :)
That is a shame that you’ve been associated with that…I am assuming the one who accused you must be a new blogger…I know when I first started out I would get upset to see another site stealing my stuff. These days I know it is happening constantly and wish there was an easy way to work around it, unfortunately there just doesn’t seem to be an easy solution other than protecting your feeds with a plug-in that automatically links & disclaims that you are the original owner and any other site is a fake – I’ve done that with some of my sites and that has seemed to help slightly in minimizing it from happening.
That is a shame that you’ve been associated with that…I am assuming the one who accused you must be a new blogger…I know when I first started out I would get upset to see another site stealing my stuff. These days I know it is happening constantly and wish there was an easy way to work around it, unfortunately there just doesn’t seem to be an easy solution other than protecting your feeds with a plug-in that automatically links & disclaims that you are the original owner and any other site is a fake – I’ve done that with some of my sites and that has seemed to help slightly in minimizing it from happening.
This is a very enlightening post. After reading this I have made a change to the footer information on my blog. I’ve been using the WP-Andreas00 1.0 theme for years and I absolutely love it! But since my blog tends to ruffle some feathers … I added a disclaimer pointing out that you are NOT responsible for the content.
Thank you for creating WP-Andreas00 1.0 … I wish I was smart enough to update it for WP 2.8
This is a very enlightening post. After reading this I have made a change to the footer information on my blog. I’ve been using the WP-Andreas00 1.0 theme for years and I absolutely love it! But since my blog tends to ruffle some feathers … I added a disclaimer pointing out that you are NOT responsible for the content.
Thank you for creating WP-Andreas00 1.0 … I wish I was smart enough to update it for WP 2.8
I found this story fostrating, and amusing, because of what happened to me this week. I got accussed of trying to hide my sources and stealing your content. How come? The person saw your name by the theme. Andreas04, and decided that you were the owner of the blog. And thus I was lying when I said I had no contact with you since I was evidently using your blog! Maybe its just a case of people seeing a name and assuming that implies ownership of the enitre page- more likely it is just a case of people being too lazy to read properly and comprehend what they are actually reading
I found this story fostrating, and amusing, because of what happened to me this week. I got accussed of trying to hide my sources and stealing your content. How come? The person saw your name by the theme. Andreas04, and decided that you were the owner of the blog. And thus I was lying when I said I had no contact with you since I was evidently using your blog! Maybe its just a case of people seeing a name and assuming that implies ownership of the enitre page- more likely it is just a case of people being too lazy to read properly and comprehend what they are actually reading
Hello Andreas,
I didn’t read all the details ;-)
Don’t get discouraged!!!
Hello Andreas,
I didn’t read all the details ;-)
Don’t get discouraged!!!
I am a designer myself, and this has happened to me also 5-6 times. The accusing people are generally women and american, (i love women, just telling a fact). They have no idea how things work on the web, but do not spare words like, “you are a thief”, “the feds will get you soon” etc. If you try to make money on the web, try learning the web a bit more.
I am a designer myself, and this has happened to me also 5-6 times. The accusing people are generally women and american, (i love women, just telling a fact). They have no idea how things work on the web, but do not spare words like, “you are a thief”, “the feds will get you soon” etc. If you try to make money on the web, try learning the web a bit more.
It seems really odd that someone who seems to be Internet aware should make such an elementary mistake. I guess it’s typical of the “Ready Fire Aim” approach common in the US. They need to chill out a bit.
It seems really odd that someone who seems to be Internet aware should make such an elementary mistake. I guess it’s typical of the “Ready Fire Aim” approach common in the US. They need to chill out a bit.
Thanks for all the comments! :)
No, I won’t get discouraged and I will definitely not give up on my job. Even though there are people out there who abuse other peoples work (no matter if it is my templates or someone elses content), I know that there are also hundreds of thousands of people who use the templates as they are intended to be used – and that is what really matters. I think that I can speak for pretty much all free template designers when I say that, as most of us have seen this kind of misunderstanding happen to our work.
One good thing that came out of this situation, is that I now have a blog post to point at the next time I get a “you are a thief!”-letter. :)
Thanks for all the comments! :)
No, I won’t get discouraged and I will definitely not give up on my job. Even though there are people out there who abuse other peoples work (no matter if it is my templates or someone elses content), I know that there are also hundreds of thousands of people who use the templates as they are intended to be used – and that is what really matters. I think that I can speak for pretty much all free template designers when I say that, as most of us have seen this kind of misunderstanding happen to our work.
One good thing that came out of this situation, is that I now have a blog post to point at the next time I get a “you are a thief!”-letter. :)
I made a slight change to the footer link title when I put up my version of one of your designs (up under my own domain name) – BASED ON A DESIGN BY: http://andreasviklund.com I think it kinda’ covers both of us that ways?
If I could hand code like you, I’d of built it me sen (I’m more ye designer turned producer type) but thank goodness there’s people like you around who make the whole task that little bit easier. It is indeed very much appreciated!
;-)
I made a slight change to the footer link title when I put up my version of one of your designs (up under my own domain name) – BASED ON A DESIGN BY: http://andreasviklund.com I think it kinda’ covers both of us that ways?
If I could hand code like you, I’d of built it me sen (I’m more ye designer turned producer type) but thank goodness there’s people like you around who make the whole task that little bit easier. It is indeed very much appreciated!
;-)
Andreas,
Your patience and professionalism in handling this misdirected attack is laudable.
Keep up the excellent work.
Best regards,
Simon
Andreas,
Your patience and professionalism in handling this misdirected attack is laudable.
Keep up the excellent work.
Best regards,
Simon
I suppose it’s a simple mistake to make. Not one of the risks I would have immediately considered as a template designer though! Perhaps you need some kind of insurance! ;-)
I suppose it’s a simple mistake to make. Not one of the risks I would have immediately considered as a template designer though! Perhaps you need some kind of insurance! ;-)
If I were you I’d make some F.A.Q. on this and post it to everyone having such problems.
If I were you I’d make some F.A.Q. on this and post it to everyone having such problems.
Welcome back Andreas and sorry it had to be under such circumstances but whatever it takes to get your creative template designing juices flowing know I am all for it! ;) lol
Sending you healing vibes and good times abroad knowing we should never think we have a woman “figured out” as they are quite complex and ever changing.
Welcome back Andreas and sorry it had to be under such circumstances but whatever it takes to get your creative template designing juices flowing know I am all for it! ;) lol
Sending you healing vibes and good times abroad knowing we should never think we have a woman “figured out” as they are quite complex and ever changing.
There are so many things that we should worry about when having a blog and producing content that we would never be able to do anything if we think about them. Hope everything is going good now about this issue.
i beleave that
this sounds like a mess. I’m glad I have no part in it
Oh no I’m always terrified that my CC stock could be used in this way and I could end up affiliated with something bad
Interesting tutorials it is amazing what you can do with photoshop from professional to modern web design. I personally use the adobe suite to create my works of art. Keep up the good work people need good tutorials like these to help the novices out.