At thefwa.com I found a great portfolio site of a photographer called Joshua Stearns. So, I just visited joshuastearns.com and was really impressed. Nice concept of a portfolio, nice photos, everything nice. I am looking at a lot of portfolio sites, because one day I plan to create my own one:-) One day later I was just googling around and found a site, that is selling templates. It is called myflashxml. And I was really upset to see the exact template for 349$ (row 4, left side), that Joshua Stearns uses on his site? Really? Did he buy a template for his own site, even when he is a very good designer, which you can see here? Or did someone grab his flash code and sell it now as a template? A lot of questions, so I wrote a mail to Joshua. This is what I wrote:
Hi Joshua,
just found your photography portfolio at thefwa.com I was just wondering about the template you are using. Or did you build your flash portfolio and sell it now as a template? I was just surfing around and found nearly the same portfolio as a template for 349 $ at:
http://myflashxml.com/you can find the demo of the template here:
http://www.flashtemplate.us/xmlswfdemo/bigpic1/index.htmlMaybe someone grabbed your flash code and sell it now as a template?
It would be nice hearing from you. And sorry about my bad english:-) By the way, the photos of your portfolio and your design works are really fantastic.
With kind regards
Floyd
And what should I say, at the same day I received an answer from Joshua Stearns with the following content:
Floyd,
Yes, my website is my original work. I designed and built the website myself. That is very troubling that some one is selling it without my permission. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I will take action.Thanks for the kind words about my work, I really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Joshua
I couldn´t believe it. If this is the truth, nothing is save anymore. Just wanted to inform you about that case. Let´s see what will happen in the next days. Will the template be gone or not?
And now for comparing some screenshots:
Here the three relevant websites again:
Joshua Stearns Portfolio
Flashtemplate.us template
Template for 349 $ sold at myflashxml
I can vouch for Joshua – he’s a stellar designer. He’s won 2 FWA’s (zero-style.com is his first). This is a blatent rip – and in my opinion – lacks the craftsmanship and polish that Josh’s creations have.
Where did you get the screenshot for the „welcome page“(index.html) from for this template? Could not find it on myflashxml.com?? There template called ‚bigpic1‘ opens directly with the gallery.
Hi Oliver,
the template „bigpic1“ was changed a bit after I wrote a few mails to them. The screenshots werde done on the date this article was published. But you can still see a part of it. They just removed the large text, but the typo at the bottom of the page remained the same way it was in the screenshot. And as far as I can see it is now not the index page anymore, but the „what we do“ page.
You would wonder who looks from who? If it was the case he did it 100% himself and myflashxml copied it, that template was already longtime removed due to copyright violation.
Of course he’s not gonna tell YOU that he bought it or sells it…Notice that HE changed his site more now than the template is changed on myflashxml.
I’ve even seen a reputable web agency with a site bought from myflashxml as their portfoliosite.
Did you write myflashxml and asked about the origin? Did you check who first published it?
@Spiv:
sorry, i didn´t wrote, that i also contacted myflashxml about the case. of course.
On Monday 17th of November 2008 I wrote the following mail to myflashxml:
The answer from myflashxml arrived the same day:
The answer was ok, so, a few days later an upgraded version with some differences was online. And I guess now the template is no longer available.
It´s difficult to answer the question who copied the layout from whom. But, what else can I do than contact both, Joshua Stearns and myflashxml. In my opinion the original work was made by himself. And maybe he changed his own site to be unique?
Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for posting the answer of myflashxml. It’s still for sale there, that’s why I’m rather believing myflashxml. If I did code and design a site totally myself and I see in the next few days a copy of it I will not rest until that site is removed. And I would have all legal rights and proof to demand it.
They are right, like I stated, that many companies go running with awards & the credits, while they actually just bought and changed/earranged a few things from a template. I see this trend more often recentely. Design agencies buying a 50 to 300$ template, tweaking it a bit and then sell it as their own for 10 to 100 times the amount. Of course they have their proud and will not admit that they bought it. That would kill their reputation and credebility.