[TriLUG] copyright question

[Mike M]

Is the look of a web page a copyrighted thing?  I believe the HTML and
CSS can be copyrighted, but there is more than one way to create a
similar appearance to a web page.

Let's say that you admire a web page design.  You copy the page source 
and modify the source by changing grahic images and colors.  You change
all trademark references. You also change all the content. All that
remains are page layout and css objects.  Let's say you've even
changed all the object names in the css. How much changing is
necessary to make the new work separate and apart from the original?

What if from scratch you recreate the general layout and color scheme of a webpage
that is copyrighted.  Is this a violation of copyright?

-- 
Mike

Moving forward in pushing back the envelope of the corporate paradigm.