[TriLUG] copyright question

[Phillip Rhodes]

Mike M wrote:

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


Without trying to sound facetious, I'd say "ask an attorney."  No joke,
there are, as I understand it, not many easy "black & white" answers
to these kinds of questions.

If you're worried about getting sued
remember that in the U.S. anybody can sue you at any time, for
any reason... and who wins and loses can vary based on who has the
$$$ for better laywers, whether or not the judge / jury / executioner
are technically competent to even understand things like CSS
attributes and DOM objects, etc....

Having said that, I seem to recall that a decision a few years
ago, between, um, was it Apple & Microsoft (history buffs chime in 
here), established a precedent that "look and feel" aren't protected
by copyright.. so there seems to be at least some legal basis to
suggest that you can make you site look very similar (if not
identical) to an existing one.. but again, I'd talk to an
actual attorney before doing anything...

TTYL,

Phil

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