an anonymous person left me a comment yesterday alerting me to the fact that justjasmine.net has a design that looks a lot like mine. a copycat? of course i had to see it for myself.
at first sight, justjasmine.net’s blue website did not look exactly identical to my purple layout. but on closer inspection i realised that most parts of it had been ripped off my design in entirety, with paragraphs copied wholesale. initially i was confused whether it could be considered a ripoff. a few folks in the field whom i consulted assured me that it was.
justjasmine.net has since taken down “its” layout, but the copycat design can still be seen here (be sure to zoom in). here’s a side-by-side comparison of the elements that justjasmine.net copied.
i have a quick welcome message to visitors, asking them have “a piece of cookie” which i think is rather cute. justjasmine.net must have agreed, because it ripped off my idea too. changing “cookie” to “coffee” does not make it any more original.
as this layout features a fairy tale theme, i refer to myself as “the princess”. justjasmine.net has done the same too. note also the very similar phrasing of the self-introduction. the content was too similar to mine. even the english and chinese names were written the same way!
big shocker! justjasmine.net is owned by a web designer! part of the paragraph had been copied word-for-word.
the leaves in the background are identical. and the worded content is again similar.
email address laid out the same way. notice the huge cursive “E” in the background.
the music section showcases the albums i’m currently listening to on my ipod. not many people would mention the ipod part. but justjasmine.net did, surprisingly. the album covers, artists and titles are laid out in the exact same way as mine.
need i say more?
and, perhaps most blatantly, the copyright message itself was copied in entirety.
interestingly, there was a heavy usage of maple leaves in justjasmine.net’s design just like mine. my leaves are on the left, and sidebar on the right. justjasmine.net had its leaves on the right, and sidebar on the left.
after the owner justjasmine.net was caught red-handed, she changed her layout to one of those free blog templates.
within ten minutes, she changed the layout again, this time to an old template that she made, with a christmas theme.
finally, she decided to close the blog altogether.
before it went down, some people had left comments at justjasmine.net, urging the owner to make an apology to me. in the period of time that she made the two or three layout changes, i have received no word. meanwhile, i have to stress that the purpose of this blog entry is not to humiliate the owner of justjasmine.net. but having literally spent months on this current design, i would appreciate a bit of respect for my hard work.
i was slightly pissed at this blatant copying. honestly i would have been fine with it if it was just a small portion. but so many parts of my site had been ripped! and there wasn’t even a single reference to sparklette.net!
but well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, isn’t it?
Posted by Veron ·
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sparklette.net - Halloween Edition sparklette.net - Layouts from Past to Present Featured on Smashing Magazine! Version 11: Only in Fairy Tales… Version 4: Innocence
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Hi Veron,
Congrats on finding a ripoff of your site. They say “Plagiarism is the Best Compliment”. Now you know your design is so good people want to copy it.
Thanks for posting the detailed close-ups and screenshots. Upon closer look, I have to say it is a very very heaviliy-inspired design, almost a direct copy but it is not completely a copy. While clues indicate that the texts have indeed been copied wholesale, the graphics although similar are original, as in she made it herself and not something that was “right-click save as” or directly taken from a screenshot. It would be more accurate to say she was reusing the design concept, maple leaf patterns and the layout and positioning on her own site, stuff which you can’t really protect by copyright. You can’t copyright the use of the maple leaf brush, the use of square thumbnails nor the use of script fonts and icons beside headings.
Being a web designer, as she had claimed, commiting such an act of unoriginality can only bring much shame to herself and show how much a “web designer” or should I say “web copier”, she is.
Finally, her own design is SHIT, she calls herself a web designer just because she knows a bit of html and photoshop? I know why she copied the text, look at her English!
Shame. shame. shame. View all comments by Aen Tan
*lol* I didn’t expect you to use such strong words against her. And you are right on about the “heavily-inspired design”. It wasn’t a case of right-click, save as, but the concepts were blatantly copied wholesale. View all comments by Veron
hmmmm… i have to wonder though… if the blog owner had contacted you beforehand… ask for permission to copy your layout, and restructured it to its supposed form… would you have allowed her to do so? would it have become a form of flattery?
It does speaks volume of your beautiful work… to have people risking copyright infringement to rip it…
frankly …. the reason i still check in from time to time is because of your blog’s exceptional design… and the wish to somehow emulate it…
cheers Lady Veron… you have won… and the offender have raised a flag of submission…
hehe… and oh… it seems like your rage still remain a force to be feared…
^)> View all comments by birdface
Veron, wordpress themes are very common right? Is your site is based on an existing theme?
If so, then there is a high chance that the structure will be the same. :) View all comments by Harro!
Just looked at the comparisons again.. and you are right, even the design elements are similar. :) Well, take it as a compliment really. Maybe its time to sell your WP theme? View all comments by Harro!
Hey birdface,
My rage still remains a force to be feared? You mean it ever was? *lol* View all comments by Veron
Hey Harro,
I don’t quite get what you’re getting at. Besides the fact that I’m using a Wordpress blogging engine, everything else in the theme has been designed from scratch (and I really mean from scratch, built in Photoshop, coded in HTML and CSS by hand). FYI the Wordpress theme would not have elements like “Visitors”, “The Princess”, “Email”, “Web Design Services”, “Music Albums”, “Movies” and “Copyright”. I came up with the entire structure myself. View all comments by Veron
I’m one of the frequent visitors of your blog since the time when you used to have a wap site. so I was quite upset when I saw her layout (especially the popcorns that she had used as well) and had to let you know.
For now, I’ll remain anonymous. :) View all comments by Anon.
Hey Anon,
Wow the WAP site was a really long time ago! Would you please not be anonymous anymore? I’d really like to know who you are, since you probably know quite a bit about me already (from reading my blog). Pretty please? You could email me! View all comments by Veron
Veron, you had a WAP site? That sounds really cool and geeky. I would love to access your WAP site, if you have one. It really is boring trying to read anything using the WAP browser, though if I used Opera Mini, it makes things a whole lot easier! View all comments by pkchukiss
morally, she should not have copied your blog structurally. she did try changing the some of the images but she could have done more on the layout structure and concept.
legally, she didn’t break any law. the web is free and the leaf and box cannot be properly copyrighted. there are too many surfers out there copying each other works.
i admired your design from “scratch”. but even from scratch, your design originality and inspiration would have come from some experience or memories and fused into a concept you want to portray, so it’s that really origin original? no one knows.
it’s a compliment that someone actually wanted your design so desirably. i have done web designs for projects, jobs, companies and even nus departments before, and i truly understand where you come from. the hours spent in perfecting the design you’ve in mind, is like seeing your baby grows. you want others to love your designs and also respect them as well.
your design is good but i have visited your blog time and again more for your entries and the comfortable feeling your blog expresses.
keep up the good work, you can’t stop people ripping off unless you exit the internet scene. true spirit of design is to better your previous design, believing there is no perfect design, less on stopping your design from spreading to others mind… View all comments by lucas
hi veron,
think of it this way: your layout is nice, that’s why ppl want to copy. Now that should sound like a good thing.
Kids nowadays really don’t have creativity. View all comments by chillycraps
hey veron,
just chanced upon your blog and saw your bak kwa entry. kinda random but have you tried chicken bak kwa? *lol* you can have that since you take chicken. switched to that since i stopped eating pork ;) View all comments by iloveyongsi
Hey pkchukiss,
I used to have a WAP edition blog that was made solely for viewing on mobile phones with non-colored screens. It had all my blog entries in full text but no pictures. Back then some of my guy friends in the army only got to come home on weekends. But they could at least surf my blog on their mobile phones! Haha!
Well right now the WAP site is no more, although I do have a PDA edition available. So if you were to surf sparklette.net on a PDA, you would be viewing a very different layout that’s customised to the tiny PDA screen.
Sounding all geeky now! View all comments by Veron
Hey lucas,
Thanks for your kind words. You are right on a number of points but I feel I need to clarify a couple of things.
1) I don’t think it is fair for anyone to question whether my design is original simply because parts of it were inspired from elsewhere. Even in the world of art, how many true artists are there? Van Gogh drew inspiration from artists like Monet and Millet. Would you consider him unoriginal?
We each are unique in our own creativity. We are inspired by good designs done by good designers. But do we simply copy the exact same concept? No, we take these inspirations and churn out something new.
There is a wild difference between inspiration and imitation. I think we need to be able to see that difference.
2) This current purple fairy tale layout is the 11th version of sparklette.net. Believe me when I say that in each of these 11 layouts, all my effort had gone into bettering each design each time. And certainly not “stopping [my] design from spreading to others mind”, because if that was the case, I would simply have locked this website to prevent anyone from seeing my design in the first place. That would be an effective measure wouldn’t it?
Like I said, I wouldn’t have minded at all if I had been given proper credit, or if it was just a small amount that was copied. Just not to the extent where random visitors can so easily tell at one glance that that website resembles mine. View all comments by Veron
Hey chillycraps,
Thanks! I do feel flattered, but that’s after the peeve. View all comments by Veron
Hey iloveyongsi,
Chicken bak kwa? Where can you get those? I wonder if it would be as good as the original pork bak kwa! View all comments by Veron
A software engineer once said to me that “it’s the greatest compliment an engineer can get when someone else chooses to copy our work”.
In other words, you design sure is damn good to inspire a ripoff! :P
(Off topic, I dread the day some guy start copying the applications I write) View all comments by mervkwok
Hey mervkwok,
Thanks, I am flattered! Well I wonder if that day came for you, would you feel flattered too? Or annoyed? View all comments by Veron
hey veron,
hmm my mom gets them for me from bee chiang heng, but you’re boycotting them, so… yar. maybe the other bigger brands will have them as well. anyhow, can’t remember what pork bak kwa tastes like to make a comparison, but the chicken ones are good! View all comments by iloveyongsi
Your design looks sweee-t, and an acknowledgement will definitely be respectful of your creativity. The blogger who ripped off your theme could possibly offer her theme to you so you can have an alternate theme to your current theme! It’s sad if it ends up in the Recycle Bin/Thrash - lost forever in the digital realm.
Well, I think that rip-off means that you can use the net community to help in the designing of your themes. Maybe use sIFR for the sidebar titles? Just suggesting… :-D View all comments by Brennan
Hi Veron !
It’s really shame on the copycat to copy most of the real cool & great stuffs in your site. Only 1 word to describe her : KANASAI !
oops! haha !
However, I enjoy reading your blogs and it keeps me going back to check out new things in your site.
Great job and keep it up ! View all comments by Edna
woooow …
this is my first time actually coming here really.
and to see your layout has been ripped off without any credits given to you; thats so unfair.
your design is very unique ~ peacelooking. (:
totally not my type, but it does somehow makes me think of flying tho… (:
ahh well, cheers to you (: View all comments by aishah
Hey iloveyongsi,
I wanna try out those non-Bee Cheng Hiang chicken bak kwa too! Here’s a note by the way: I love your blog! View all comments by Veron
My bet is that if she could do a flash, she would have those falling maple leaves too. And I couldn’t believe that she actually offers web design service! And she call herself a designer? OMG! Good thing that someone found out, else I would really have to pity those people who consult her for web design services! View all comments by Huimei
Hey Brennan,
Thank you! But really, having that as an alternative layout, or having anyone else design my blog for that matter would never be in the cards. This blog is perhaps the only thing in the world that truly belongs to me. No, I would have no one touch its design or code *lol*
Shame on me, I have never heard of sIFR until you mentioned it. Thanks! View all comments by Veron
Hey Edna,
Thanks for your support! I had to LOL at your strong remark though. What a bunch of cute visitors I have! View all comments by Veron
Hey aishah,
Welcome! Can it be the flying maple leaves that make you feel like flying? View all comments by Veron
Hey Huimei,
Good lord! If she had those flying leaves too people would immediately see the resemblance! View all comments by Veron
After reading so many comments, I just have one more thing to add…that is, she actually posted her so-so photo on her copy-cat blog…it kinda disgust me, dunno why. Maybe it’s because it feels like she even attempted to pose the same way as you, showing her profile…, perhaps she can re-take that pose again with her specs off…LOL View all comments by Xanthe
honestly? pissed off hehe :P View all comments by mervkwok
*lol* Xanthe, that actually sounded a little mean! To be honest I did notice the similarity in poses right from the start but I didn’t want to mention it. Looks like you noticed it too! View all comments by Veron
Hahaha! Definitely, in fact the way she smile looks copy-cat too! Maybe you can provide some make-up tips so that in future she might need it after all her photo is much larger than yours. Oops, wicked xanthe. lol. View all comments by Xanthe
Damn! What a loser! View all comments by Beni
Shameful and Shameless. And a web designer as well, I wonder what they are teaching in schools these days. View all comments by DT
Now that’s just sad, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I was caught with plagiarism. justjasmine must be and should be real ashamed. View all comments by Ruddy
Wao, your design is really good. Hm, this entry really gives “rippers” a wake up call. Haha, if somebody rips my design, I’ll be so flattered, but, u are so TALENTED! OMG! WaO!! Damm good. ^+++^ View all comments by YuKihikO
Oh btw, please don’t rip my work too. Haha, just using it as a comparison. But if somebody rips my design, i’ll be so pissed. Ya.. Wahaha. Good work to Veron! Her blog is gone already. Wao.. But she didn’t actually ‘rip’ la, hm, she kinda copied ur ideas ba. She had done some work too. Hm, however, that was too much copying le. Shame on her. View all comments by YuKihikO
I was about to write a note about beautiful blogs for my French readers, and I came back here to have another look at your work… What a coincidence !
Your copycat’s blog seems nice too, she didn’t betray you ! (except in not naming sparklette.net)
PS : by the way, I used one of your photos (the pink christmas tree). Can I ? Your name and blog’s adress is on it. View all comments by la belle bleue
Oh, that’s the tree that looks like candy floss! Please, go ahead and use it! View all comments by Veron
This is one of the best-looking blogs I’ve come across! Great work Veron! I love it very much! I totally understand how shitty it feels having your design being duplicated for I’m a designer myself. ;o) View all comments by velvet
Hi Vernon,
It’s bad to have other people copy things without your knowledge. Too bad for her not to realize that she might as well use her own creativity to craft out a great design.
Anyway, hope that you don’t get mad anymore as forgiving is the greatest life principle.
Cheers,
Fenton View all comments by Fenton
I stumbled on your BEAUTIFUL site through a link in a website I found through a link in a website through a link in a website… You get the idea.
Anyway, I work pretty closely with a law firm and I would have to say that justjasmine has indeed infringed your copyright, even though she did not “right-click and save”. The similarities are simply too glaring for her to claim otherwise.
The worst part was, she actually had the cheek to put her picture for all to see! Must have been truly embarrassing!
Anyway, I love reading your posts! Keep writing! :) View all comments by think2ink
Hey Fenton,
I wasn’t actually that mad in the first place. Just peeved! But all has been forgiven now :) View all comments by Veron
Hey think2ink,
In the online world, people assume it’s easier to get away with certain things since there aren’t many checks in place. Besides, there are just too many blogs out there! Had it not been for an alert blog reader of mine, I wouldn’t even have known of justjasmine.net. And if she has in fact infringed my copyright, there isn’t exactly much I can do except blog about it haha. View all comments by Veron
Dear Veron,
your structure/design/page is amazing. I first stumbled across sparklette.net when you had your other layout a couple years back ‘….How far is heaven?’ I was so inspired by it, it was so beautiful. Since, I have checked back a few times, even more amazed with this new layout. I feel deeply angered by this person who has so clearly ripped your work, i was shocked to see ‘the princess’ etc. How dare she!! :) But it just shows you how good your work is that she copied so many aspects of it.
Wow I’d love to be able to do the things you do. Only if you could teach me!!!
I also remain anonymous. But just HAD to comment on this one.
:) View all comments by Anon
Wow, this particular post is really drawing the lurkers out! :) View all comments by Veron
O Haha…what was ripped off was the organization…and ideas…at least she’s not copying the original arts. Looks more like an admirer than a theft.
Anyhow this is one of the finest designs I’ve seen. View all comments by coolnalu
Hi Veron
My designs were not ripped like yours but my articles were. If http://www.ezinearticles.com who alerted me. This scumbag probably wanted to earn adsense revenue and he blantantly hijacked articles to put in his site. I got to explain, clarify and justify to ezine that I was indeed the writer or my account with this #1 article submission site would forever be suspended. I was quite mad then. I let off steam in a post ,”I was a Victim of Intellectual Property Theft”, at my blog. And wow, it attracts lots of feedbacks.
Copycatting is not a flattery in the creative business as it would lead to hungry stomach and company goes bust. But then it’s not something copycats and scumbags would understand. On a lighter site, your stuff is dreamy and lovely and that’s why it courted Jasmine’s attention. You should be proud of your work.
PS: Thanks to Edmund who point me to your site. View all comments by vivienne
wow. u’re like so good at this! lol. XD wish u all the best in all ur future designs alrite? hope i can do as well too. though i got quite abit of trouble using photoshop and dreamweaver. =(( lol. still! =)) aniwae, good luck!! View all comments by kimmiee
the design world is like that lah. of course there are copy cats. thats what internet is abt .. copy and paste. most of the websites on the internet are what you see and why cant i use it for my own … ? aniwae ur good, but will all designs, it takes time. people dun want waste time. they want a template and then do it for themselves rather then thinking of new stuff. keke. you do it sometimes too. okie see ya. sayonara. View all comments by richard
I think this looks like urs too
http://www.sabrina.sg/ View all comments by anny
Thanks for alerting me. Sabrina had told me of her intent to draw some inspiration from my design. View all comments by Veron
Hi Veron
I go to ur blog often and I love the honest and down-to-earth entries.
I like the ideas u put forth in ur blog (not just in ur posts) i.e. things like wat’s in ur iPod, short ratings of movies and TV recently watched. I liked those ideas and I emulated them if u dun mind.
I am not sure how much ideas I emulated but if u are not alright abt certain things in my blog, feel free to let me know! Know that i have no intentions to plagiarise!
Once again, thanks for ur inspiration. Keep up the good work! View all comments by Jzin
Those music albums, movie ratings and TV shows are perfectly fine. Lord knows I got the idea from someone else’s page too!
But I have to draw the line when other bloggers emulate my design and words too heavily. I spent (a lot of) time and effort conceptualising each part of my design, and finding the proper wordings to what I write. It is not cool when people simply make use of my ideas and hard work without putting in much thought and creativity of their own.
Thanks for trying to clarify things with me :) View all comments by Veron