I didn’t think this would be the subject of my first post of 2008, but this guy really steals the cake.
Meet Eric Albers, a Dutch Communication and Multimedia (keep this in mind for later) student who thinks its okay to blatantly copy the design from this site for his own as you can see here.
I spotted his site by pure coincidence a few days ago going through my site stats. Its not the first time someone has tried to copy my work and get away with it, but after a friend of mine left a comment on his blog and Eric replied to it I thought it was time to put this guy on the spot and call him out for the lazy schmuck he is.
On the 3rd of January Eric posts a proud entry on his new blog that his site has gotten a facelift. He assures us it was quite the big task, because he had to use his box of coding tricks and he’s pretty happy with the result. “Yeah..”
A friend of mine then posts a comment, basically calling him out on blatantly copying me, to which Dear Eric replies he is quite surprised SOMEONE NOTICED! AND SO SOON! (yes Eric, welcome to the internet) and goes on saying that “you have to start somewhere” and that he thought my site was quite clear and well structured (Thanks!) and he’s happy that he learned php and css while copying my site.
So far I’m thinking… Okay, he’s young and naive. I’ll just write him an email and ask him to come up with another design.
But then I read on, and he says – presumably in some misguided form of defense – that HE SUSPECTS I DIDN’T COME UP WITH MY DESIGN EITHER! Uhm…What? That guy either has balls of steel or has hit his head pretty hard against his desk.
Here’s another screen grab of Eric’s masterful copy:
So the next day Dear Eric posts a new entry on his blog officially saying “yeah I stole hellomuller.com’s design”, and tries to give us (and me probably) enough reasons to forgive him: he had to come up with a clean design and found that my site ticked all the right boxes, he’s not a web designer (even though his portfolio contains design work, he studies MULTIMEDIA and has mastered html, css and php) and closed off by saying that he thinks plagiarism is a bit too strong in his case, since the contents of the site are different and that if I would object he’ll try and change his site asap.
Well Eric, here is my response:
For you to think that its OK to just copy someone’s work for your own benefit and then thinking you can get away with it (certainly online) is naive to put it mildly. To then try and defend yourself by claiming you think I didn’t come up with my own design is the stupidest and weakest argument I’ve heard in a long time.
And yes, it is plagiarism. You lifted my site design wholesale. Changing some colours and the content doesn’t change the fact that it is my design you’re using.
Lastly, you’ve shown that you’re more than capable of coding and designing, so once again – your act of copying my site shows that in fact you are lazy and opportunistic and I’m calling you out on it.
So in short: Eric, take down your site or change it. Bedankt bij voorbaat.
UPDATE: It seems young Eric has put his site (minus blog) up again… without changing it as I requested. Some kids will never learn.
January 7th, 2008
well said!
January 7th, 2008
I will take it down asap. I never expected my actions would lead to such strong feelings. It has never been my intention to persue plagiarism. I was in no way whatsoever after your work, but in a way, copying your webdesign is. The note about me thinking that it wasn’t your own design, was stupid and naive, I admit. I do have to say that I really don’t master html and php and only know the basics. As a ‘fellow designer’ I respect your work and am hereby offering you my apolagies. I was curious to see if I was capable of creating a site like yours, which you are well aware of, I now am. I also truely was convinced that nobody would stumble upon my site as soon as your friend did, because when I googled myself it didn’t show up in the results. The last thing I have to say is that it absolutely wasn’t the final version of the site. So again, I’m sorry I was naive to think that nobody would see the site and that I used your design for my own perposes. Placing myself in your shoes, I realize, that it feels like a stab in the back. It has NEVER been my intention to be disrespectful to you as a person or your profession. Eric.
January 7th, 2008
Everybody chill.
January 7th, 2008
i think all of us naturally learn from examples. i know growing up, i used to draw every comic book hero/villan i loved line for line. it did help me develop skills and understand how things work. and of course, learn from the mistakes i was naturally making starting something new from scratch on my own. but i never tried passing them off as my own.
what eric did was basically, line for line of this site, and a big NO-NO! but im sure he learned a lot more then what he initially thought he would. so if he is trying to learn from a great example, more power to him, just dont throw it up online next time… and essentially copy it.
everyone learns from mistakes :) haha
January 7th, 2008
That’s not the way to go mr. rippaa
January 9th, 2008
I think I am suffering from deja vu…! The same thing happened to me and I got pretty much the same response when I challenged the protagonist – http://www.iainclaridge.co.uk/blog/?p=114
January 9th, 2008
To Eric: Thanks for taking down the site. I can perfectly understand trying to emulate (even copy it line for line) as a way of learning. Anyway – I’ve voiced my thoughts on this. Apology accepted.
January 11th, 2008
I think that, being copied is the best form of recognition.
I’ve seen cases like this hundreds of times, and 90% of the people react as you did. I still can’t understand it. I think for someone with your career and experience you shouldn’t even care about this, let the kid go and that’s it. Is not that he stole your clients, is it?
Stop wasting your time with this, and focus on your projects I would say.
March 13th, 2008
Down again.
March 30th, 2008
I have no intention on pointing fingers at Eric – But this comment is to Muller – I am really glad to see you are dealing with this is a fashionable manor and that you accept his apology – way too often I see designers being ripped off and the only thing they can think of is humiliating the other online for a loooong time… So props to you for being a gent.