

Ask HN: How do we stop 'design trolls'? - vicbrooker

Is anyone else worried about how as we move towards flat/minimalist design and designs that are really more or less the same (how many ways can you really draw a 'flat' clock for example) that we're opening up a pandora's box of trolls?<p>At least with to patent troll you actually need a patent. To be a 'design troll' all you need is to have drawn something. After that you're 'protected by copyright' and have the right to file a DMCA takedown once you're infringed. Right?<p>But is there infringement? A lot of the support of LV's takedown was more to do with ethics and morals than the law. Unfortunately they're completely different things.<p>People saying that the similar colour palettes justify a DMCA complaint aren't just wrong but they're misleading the group they post in. Colour palettes aren't copyrightable, colours can in some circumstances be trademarked. Tiffany &#38; co did it. So did T-Mobile.<p>If I use Tiffany blue and T-Mobile magenta in my website about silver-cased phones I won't get a DMCA complaint. I'll be notified of a trademark infringement. I'll probably get my ass beaten up in court.<p>Long story short, is it time that someone put together a resource for founders that explains in plain language when they should/shouldn't be putting in complaints or taking legal action? I'm still a law student so I can't until my degree is over so I'm not really able to. Is anyone in HN qualified and interested?<p>The potential for trolling here is enormous. More worrying is that copyright is a confusing sonofabitch and it's easy to assume that making something grants exclusive use over all elements of it. It's hard enough for me with most of a law degree and a particular interest in IP law to get my head around which parts of my startup's product are covered and why.<p>I guess I'd just prefer it if we could spend time making neat stuff instead of constantly looking over our shoulders every time we make a new icon. What do you think?
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DanBC
DMCA is a process. Someone files a takedown request, someone else files a
counter notice. etc etc.

If you are a designer and your work is ripped off, and the site isn't
responding to email, you will get a lot of support if you put together a
simple sheet showing the similarities between your work and theirs. It might
help if you show how their work is more similar to yours than it is to some
other products too.

If someone is accusing you of ripping of their work it helps if you put
together the same kind of sheet, showing what they claim is ripped off, your
"version", and something from the WWW predating both projects but very
similar. Point out all the differences and explain the design "language"
(sorry, designers, for mangling the lingo) that you were going for.

If you're being targeted it might be useful to do a web-search to see if
they've got a history of targeting many people.

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vicbrooker
tl;dr -

Complaints relating to UI's are bound to get more common as the minimalist
trend continues. This sucks because a lot of the time complaints will be
invalid/mislead and stressful for all involved.

Let's kill design trolling before it's a thing.

