Source Code Theft is Not Harmless
In a quest to save time and money, it's not uncommon for online store owners to follow the suit of many personal site authors - find a layout section you like on another site, and click Edit... View Source, followed by Edit... Select All, and Edit... Copy. While it may seem like a harmless little trick, this type of theft can get you caught in quite a stink.
I'll preface my commentary this week by saying that I do not agree with stealing HTML/CSS or whatever other kind of code from competitors, other web stores, or even someone's MySpace page, for that matter. However, I find it acceptable, within reason, to review code to help push you into the direction you need to take. I'll also note that there are several sites that do offer "free" code snippets and I say if the disclaimer says free, and it covers commercial use, have at it - just be sure to follow the terms.
Copying and pasting code from another site is copyright infringement against at least one person. Yet, so many site builders make it a common practice, never a worry. To think that the original copyright owner has little recourse is naive - I personally have successfully had more than a dozen site's remove such content of mine; most site owners, realizing they've been caught, remove offending content post haste, but I've also had pages removed by directive of hosting companies. What's worse for them, though, is the embarrassment when a third-party discovers the infringement and posts the information to others.
I have caught infringing code on client sites, and I'm often replied to with one of two answers: 1. They didn't know how to code the information themselves, and didn't have time to learn; 2. They couldn't afford (or did want to pay) someone to do it from scratch. Of course, neither of these excuses warrant the action. I will add that in all occurrences, the code was immediately removed and replaced with customized scripting.
How can I tell what's protected and what's not? Some say this is a fine line, but it's really quite simple. If you go to a resource site, whereas code snippets are presented for teaching you how to do something, it's generally accepted that you can copy/paste this code. Same goes for scripts whereas the author expressly says you can use it on your site.
Some site authors actually invite you to view the source code and use it for yourself. But unless this is expressly stated, it is unacceptable, and illegal, to view source code of copyrighted pages and freely use the code.
Need I even mention that the above can be applied to images as well? Sadly, I probably should...
What Can Happen? In the world of online business, especially if you've copied code or information from competitor's Web sites, you could nearly expect an email, requesting you remove the infringing information. Companies armed with legal counsel may take this further and send a certified letter, and those more in the know will take one of the ultimate, yet effective, recourses - to notify search engines and your hosting provider.
Why the search engines? Because some of them, including Google, has been known to disclaim the infringement right on the search listing.
Why the host? Because in a clear case, while hosting providers are limited in their liability, they don't want to be involved in what is considered a Federal matter. They're more apt to advise you to remove the offending pages, or they will for you. The Digital Mellenium Copyright Act (laymen's resource) expects service providers to remove materials from web sites that appears to infringe on copyright.
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