Submitting to the temptation of reusing a site’s code or design could result in harsh consequences. 

We’ve all found a website that really strikes a chord with its design or has a great layout and functionality that we envy, but we have to be careful when making the separation between admiring the website and actually stealing its design. The temptation to copy another website's markup and use it as your own could result in a violation of copyright infringement. Essentially, when a person or business copies a website’s code or design, the person or business can be found guilty of taking the individual’s idea and for violating the copyright law. Any misrepresentation or tangible alteration of original work would be a direct violation of the standing copyright laws.

The bottom line is if you or your company finds an appealing design, steals the code and proceeds to input your own content, then you will have left your website wide open to copyright infringement, which can seriously harm the development of your website. If you think that by changing navigation headings or website IDs is going to cover the misuse of someone else’s material, then the original creator will have precedent to take legal action.

Now if after reading this warning you’ve decided to ignore the advice and have chosen to try your luck by claiming coincidence, then you may run into a situation where the original creator wants to pursue action to make you change your "similar" design. You could argue that there are many various 3-column websites on the web, but designing your website is crucial to the progression of your business. If you find a website that you admire, then try not to replicate its style. To ensure your website’s integrity, concentrate on creating a unique website design. Avoid copying even minor elements of another website’s design, even if you have re-written parts of the code yourself, because the original creators could claim you've attempted to reverse engineer a version of their website. I recommend that if you choose to use a variation of a website’s content, then it’s best to contact the website’s creator to get their approval. Often times designers will be open to variations of their own design once they have been assured that their website or company is going to receive credit for the contribution located somewhere on the website.

Best practice dictates that in any instance where you find yourself questioning any element of the development of your website it is prudent to contact a legal professional with expertise in this area to examine any issues you may have before proceeding with the web design. Trying to claim "fair use,” for content on individual web pages can be quite difficult, given the relatively short length of most web pages, any element that is "borrowed" for another website, would need to be a comparative size. Simply claiming "fair use" is an admission of copyright infringement, in which case a judiciary finding would lead to a result of comparable liability.

In my own design experience I have found that there are many templates available on the web today and most require you to sign off on some form of licensing agreement, but there are others that require payment by either a one off purchase or multiple subscription payment/s and you may also find others that are free. Templates can be a useful way to get designs that are contemporary and well built while not violating or infringing current copyright laws.

A website’s design is an integral part of the development of a company’s online presence and all factors -legal, structural and contextual have to be fully vetted before the website can "go live.” Best practices provide a solid framework from which you can use to ensure your website’s prosperity and help your business thrive on the web.