A comment about the Lodsys website

In the last couple of days, I have got a number of e-mails from people who have been upset about a patent-related conflict between a company called Lodsys and app developers for Apple iOS. The website of Lodsys is built using one of the templates from this site, but all credits for the original template design has been removed. For this reason, I have been asked to step up and “teach Lodsys a lesson”, as the patent conflict is all about Lodsys seeking to get compensation for having others using their work.

I can see and understand why people contact me about this. But no matter what I think about the actual topic and Lodsys actions, I have nothing to do with it. It is not my conflict, and I will not take part of it. Here is why:

There is no requirement to keep the original design credits when a template from andreasviklund.com is used to build a website. I encourage it and appreciate when it happens. I’d say it is a good thing to do, as it is a nice way of saying “thanks” and helping others find the templates. But once a template has been downloaded from this site, I have no possibility to control how it is used. And I can not (and do not want to) spend my time on hunting down deleted credits. If Lodsys felt that they could not keep the design credits, then that is their decision and I respect that without protest.

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.