Ain’t this familiar? Tsk, tsk, tsk
Author: Jan Cavan, Category: Personal, Rants
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. Well, I was flattered at some point but not anymore. The photo above is a link to a website that is a blatant rip of Dawghouse Design Studio. This person loved my design so much and was so "insipired" that he copied EVERYTHING- from my images down to my Google Analytics code! He even tried to lamely imitate the my navigation style! I found it out because visits to this site showed up on my logs!
This thief’s name is Leonardo Andrade. I don’t know what he does but one thing I know for sure – he is a thief. A criminal who takes property belonging to someone else. Written on the footer (in Portuguese) of this copied site is “site criado na versão do Dawghouse Design Studio© editado por Leonardo andrade”. I translated it via Yahoo’s Babel Fish and it meant “site created in the version of the Dawghouse Design Studio© edited for Leonardo andrade”. What’s that supposed to mean? Like it’s okay to copy someone else’s work just as long as you acknowledge the person or site you copied it from?
Here is are link to the: culprit’s site’s. And another one, and another one, and another one… He also, apparently, copied my contact form!
Enjoyed this post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed to stay up to date with our latest tutorials, freebies and more design resources!
Comments
Bummer!!!! Did you try to contact this guy and ask him to remove his site?
Oh yes I did. Unfortunately, I never got a reply. And visits to his site still show up on my logs…
(Tsss… There’s one born every minute, you know.)
I actually just found you (via WeLoveWP) and wanted to make sure you knew how much I fell in love with your design. You’re an inspiration! (no pun intended…hoho)
This is ridiculous, what a cheek! I cannot believe people actually do this and think it is ok. I hope you get it sorted soon.
@Anna – Thank you so much for the very kind words and for taking time to visit my site. I really appreciate it :)
@James Reeve – Yea, it really sucks. I have contacted this person to no avail. This guy is insane. I hope he’d come to his senses someday! Anyway, thanks!
Hi Jan,
I have had this happen to me so many times. I agree that at first it was flattering, but after about 10 times it got old. Have you attempted to contact his web host about his blatant rip?
@Lori: Hey Lori, did it really? That’s really disappointing. I know the feeling. Yes, I have tried contacting this person several times but to no avail. Copied site is still up ’til now.
I really like your site design and although it is disappointing and annoying it is also a huge compliment about your design skills. I think you should contact him and ask him why?
@Lucy: Hey there! Thanks a bunch for the compliment! Anyways, yes I have tried contacting him but never got a reply. Yeah, I agree it is a compliment when things like these happen, but at some point, it starts to piss you off.
Hey. Loving your site. Looks awesome. I think it is flattering when someone takes inspiration from your site and carries off elements in their own design, but to just rip it off is not on. Good luck getting this sorted fella.
Ey, thanks a lot Jamie! :)
Love your site, awesome. Looks like the thief is making a new design now. If he’s still using your code behind the scenes, I’d contact his hosting provider to let them know he has stolen property from you.
Hello, Tony! Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. I guess he’s taken down some of the pages except for some – which also still have my Analytics tracking code, unfortunately. I’ve already contacted his hosting provider… just waiting for their reply. I hope they completely take his site down soon. Cheers!
As you have seen in one of our latest entries in our blog, our blog theme got ripped off by some unscrupulous criminal who does not understand what is copyright law as well. Sigh.
Contact 110mb.com and get them to take it down.
Hi, Jan. I visited your website following a link from a list of very nice interface designs… I’m a brazilian web designer myself and I’m very sad to hear that your thief is also a brazilian… It is very annoying when somebody from your own country does something wrong. Anyway, I guess there are poor minded people in any nation around the globe. The copy is a very sad thing, and I’d be furious if I found some “bad twin” of my own website…
Very silly indeed. They are called ‘rippers’ normally, not inspirers or anything of the sort.
Because it wasn’t just inspiration, but stealing the whole design and the code (evident because of the analytics code!)
hello…
it’s a stupid rip and of course this guy’s just some n00b, and maybe never heard Analytics in his life :P
Hi guys, I finally got a reply from 110MB.com and they finally took the site down… phew! What a relief! I sure hope something like this doesn’t happen again in the future. To all those who posted, thank you and Happy Holidays :)
Now, that’s good Christmas present for you, got your problem solved! Good things happen!
it really is i bet! hope to see more of your works!! i’m loving it.. ;)
Nice work! I’ll have to do a cross post on this one ;)
Did you say he’s using your google adsense code?? Well, at least you’ll make the money for the clicks :( Sorry you’ve been ripped off that totally bites. Good luck getting his site taken down.
Did you sau he’s using your google adsense code? Won’t get you get the money from that? Haha! What a dork that guy is. Sorry you’ve been ripped off. Your design is amazing and I wish you the best.
Haha! You can delete that first attempt it said I didn’t fill out my name so I tried again yet there it was…weird.
@Barbara: Nope, this guy used my Analytics code not my Adsense. I finally got a reply from 110MB and they took the site down. For the second time, I found another person who copied my site as well as my Analytics code. I’m glad I was able to contact that person’s hosting provider and they took his site down :)
Thanks for the compliment by the way :)
Great job. Thanks you. :)
http://www.dawghousedesignstudio.com – now in my rss reader)))
Hello, I can’t understand how to add your blog ( http://www.dawghousedesignstudio.com ) in my rss reader
@kayandafuendy: Hello there, what seems to be the problem? Let me know so I try to assist you :)
Not sure if you are aware of this one or not, but I found it because one of the images has the same alt tag that you use on the image above. alt=”Leonardo Andrade is a thief”
You may have already noticed this one. I looked at the code and it too is using your analytics tracking ID.
Oops forgot to paste in link–>http://benitesz.comze.com/
Sorry,
I did not know this bid is considered a crime, I am not just creating a web design page for Downloads for the a CMM orkut
Can’t blame the guy (Leonardo) for liking your design because its awesome but ripping it off is not an excuse. Its good that 110MB.com took down his site. Btw, the link Billie Jo shared is still using your design. I checked and saw that his hosting provider is 000webhost.com just so you know.
Anyways, all the best to you and your blog!
cool site man
he is so rude! plagiarism!
anyway, all you can do is laugh about his silly act. i’ve seen the page and i have to say it’s not impressive compared to yours that really showcased your innate creativity. you really are an inspiration. :)
anyway, good job ate, keep it up! :)
Glad you nailed him!
Good work! Thank you very much! I always wanted to write in my blog something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog? Of course, I will add backlink?
@Jaypee: Thanks for the heads up. I’ve talked to 000webhost and had this copied site taken down already. Thank you!
@Doks @xtin: Thank you guys. Appreciate it :)
@alle: I sure am!
@Jessicavomi: Sure, no problem!
I hate those kinds of people! Copycats!
Hi, good post. I have been wondering about this issue,so thanks for posting. I’ll definitely be coming back to your site.
Hi. I like the way you write. Will you post some more articles?
hi jan are you a filipina?
@drew: Yes, I am… and a fan of your work as well :)
WOW…this is appalling!!
I was just going through your most popular posts and thought this would be an interesting read! – It sure was, but I was shocked to read the lengths some people go too!..
I see things have been sorted so that’s good!!….
I love your website by the way, and check it regularly to see what new stuff you post!…
Keep up the brilliant work! :)
It’s when the rip-off site gets showcased you really want to worry!
Um, you might want to kill the links in your original post and add an update note. I clicked on a couple out of interest and found myself on a pirate game site. Wasn’t till I scrolled down to the comments that I read that the rip-off has been taken down.
Best, Sue
lousy ripper… good thing it was taken off by their hosts…
to all site rippers out there get a life…
cool site by the way…. regards from a footer and ex-footer… :)
I look through sites like yours every week for inspiration however I would get no satisfaction from my work if I just blatantly ripped off someone elses design. I love the challenge of creating an original design for a site!!
Glad to see you got some results in the end.