A collection of plagiarized content and misappropriated design elements through side-by-side comparisons.
« Please refer to the menu on the left for individual examples.
 

Apparently so. For example, since 2002 Equine Web Design has responded to more than 100 incidents of infringement per year on behalf of this web site, as well as web sites created and hosted by Equine Web Design. After the first fifty or so incidents, the matter has become tiresome. Being imitated and stolen from isn't flattery, it's a nuisance. After a couple hundred instances, it's become an epidemic.

Despite the volume of infringement incidents, Equine Web Design's © Wall of Shame's number of published examples is modest, representing only a fraction of the larger problem.
 

Contrary to what some may believe, many of the designers within the equine community are friends. In fact, many of us are good friends. I would consider several "competitors" within this industry some of my closest online friends. I admire their talent, their honesty, their work ethic, and enjoy their friendship. Many of us embarked on our equine web design businesses around 1996, and have been in contact with each other for years.

Healthy competition keeps the industry fresh and growing. Those that choose to hang their design shingle by taking from other designers stagnate the creative process, cheat their clients of original work, and delude themselves (and others) about their level of talent. Not to mention, they conveniently ignore the issue of copyrights in the process. They endear themselves to no one.

Within the "design circle", it isn't necessarily about whose work is best in whose opinion; it's about the pursuit of originality, and giving credit where credit is due. So long as everyone does their own work, I believe the consensus among the majority of web designers is to embrace a "live and let live" attitude. Until... someone steals from one of us.

Tidbit: Despite popular belief, we designers don't spend all our time scouring the internet for cases of infringement. To the contrary, many times one of us informs a fellow designer of suspected infringement. It's a professional courtesy extended out of mutual respect.
 

First of all, we don't contact people without evidence of our work on their site.

It's pretty easy to recognize, being as, literally, "we were there" as the designer when the work went from just another creative idea to actually being published. The designer wrote the HTML code and/or style sheets, the designer created the graphics, the designer developed the layout, and the designer may be responsible for the majority of text (i.e. "copy" or "content"). As a rule, designers know their own work like the back of their hands.

We're generally straight to the point upon such discoveries. Blunt, in fact. I would say the degree of "bluntness" is proportionate to the magnitude of theft. Depending on the situation, we may send a Notice of Infringement or a personal email to notify the other party of the problem. If the infringing content is removed upon notification the matter is resolved.

On the other hand, responding by whining or chastising us for being blunt only exacerbates matters. Denying there is a situation of unauthorized duplication significantly exacerbates matters. Personally, I would rather someone make up a fib and dismiss it with an insincere "hey, sorry about that" or "I got it from [an anonymous] person by accident" - and simply remove the infringing material - than waste my time and their breath with an etiquette lesson.

If the infringing content is removed, that's the end of it, and everyone goes on about their business. If not, we 1.) habitually forward a complaint to the webmaster or site owner's web host, and 2.) put our attorney on notice of possible future action.
 

But nothing. If further clarification is needed, please refer to this sentence.

Officially and for the record: I am not remotely interested in the opinion of a thief. I find their drivel, denials, coincidences-that-aren't, and absurd rationalizations insufferable and do not respond kindly. Ever.

No, the thief who chooses to argue one inane contradiction after another is not a unique and special snowflake and does not deserve any more consideration than their hundred-plus predecessors. To keep it fair - I treat them all with equal contempt.

Under different circumstances, I may have even liked them.
 

It's a learning tool for aspiring designers, would-be thieves, and fellow designers who may have been similarly affected. If others can benefit from our experiences in some way, that's a positive thing. At the very least, it's enlightening and exposes the very real problem of plagiarism and copyright infringement within our equine web community.