e/xpression Dear Turnip, I would like to contribute my thoughts on the "Stealing in the Site Community Article": Why do people steal? Many of the people on neopets are just kids -- and I hate this excuse, I really do -- but they don't know any better. They haven't fully grasped the concept of intellectual property and why we protect it to the extent that we do. They haven't distinguished the difference between trademark and copyright. They don't know how to yet define a copyright or trademark is considered infringement if it is "confusingly similar". First off, let me be clear. You cannot copyright an idea. What is protected though, is the e.xpression of an idea. A boy goes to a school for wizards is an idea. Harry Potter with a plot, characters, and rules for universe in which magic operates is an e.xpression of that idea. Being able to move objects with your mind is an idea. An e.xpression of said idea would be "The Force", where a society of only Jedi Knights in an expanded universe in space can harness such a power depicted in a visual format, spawning several movies, tv shows, and other merchandise that has made billions of dollars. Let's apply this to Neopets. Wanting to having a petpage where you offer graphics is an idea. Using predominantly a orange layout, designing a character as a hostess, creating a logo to put on the graphics -- essentially, anything that Rika from The Teahouse does to differentiate herself from other sites so that people can recognize something of hers upon sight is the e.xpression of an idea. Perhaps the idea of a petpage offering tea graphics has been done before; and you can probably create your own petpage where you draw pictures of teacups without getting into trouble. However, if you utilize a chibi orange-haired waitress with open circles for eyes, then yes, you have trespassed into the territory which most reasonable people would consider "stealing". The reason why the e.xpression of a copyright of an idea is protected is because you invest your time and talents into it. Have ever heard somebody say that no idea is unique anymore? Perhaps the idea itself has been used before, but the skill it takes to express an idea is what makes it truly unique. As a site owner, you have poured countless hours into learning how to code, refining your graphic making abilities, and translating what was once a concept in your head into something people can utilize. Your skills cannot be easily replicated, so that is why it is valuable, and worth protecting and preserving as unique. That is why, when next time you want to use something a fellow siteowner has created and has licensed for your usage, that it is important you leave credit. That is why it is the morally correct thing to do -- it is an acknowledgment of all the time and talent invested. So do you need permission to use an idea? Are you not allowed to use an idea just because somebody says you can't? Remember, the idea itself is not protected. However, if you invest your own time, your own unique talent into expressing the same idea in a way that is a fresh angle and have sought to differentiate yourself to the extent that it is not "confusingly similar" -- meaning, that a reasonable person would not likely to confuse your site with the site where the idea originated from, then yes, you can use the idea guilt-free. For example, let's say you want to use the idea of "claiming a page" that was first seen at Add-A-Name Petpages. If you copy her terms of use word-for-word, her method of operation precisely, and change the name to "Add-A-Title Petpages" -- then yes, you are infringement because it is "confusingly similar". However, if you decide to allow users to be able to choose their own navigation links as well, or decide to design petpages for specific use -- any deviation in the process of transferring the petpage to the user can be considered a completely unique e.xpression of the idea. Basically the rule of thumb is to ask yourself: is idea I'm going to implement in my site going to confuse the average visitor with the site that originated the idea? If so, what can I do the alter the idea so that it is unique? It is also important to note that a trademark can "dilute", meaning it cannot be protected anymore. This usually happens when a lot of people start using it for general use to the point nobody knows the origin anymore. In the case of Neopets, perhaps you know of the anchored petpage technique, creating the illusion of a page within a page. When it was first developed on Neopets, the creators were fiercely protective of the idea. However, nowadays you don't see anybody crediting for implementing an multipaged layout on their site. Why is that? First off, because it's so commonplace now and that it has been so many years nobody knows the true creator. But more importantly, because new techniques have been developed so that there are variations in the code so it can be considered a unique e.xpression of the idea (the same goes for hover coding, though that is a more recent example). No, this does not mean that you can lift code wherever you please expecting it will dilute (please see the section Coding Theft: So What's the Big Deal? at That Kills Me). At this point you may be going, wow this article is so hardcore and serious -- take a chill pill, author, this is just Neopets! You may be able to get away with stealing intellectual property here and at worst, all TNT does is clear your page. Great for you. However, these bad habits in what you consider situations "that don't matter" that you develop will have serious consequences. You may lift only a couple sentences or paragraphs in your college paper from another source without crediting -- it's only a couple sentences, who cares, right? Wrong. I guarantee you will fail the paper, and consequences such as failing the rest of the class and/or academic suspension will sure follow. In the corporate world it gets even more serious, since there is a lot of money at stake. You will find that even the slighest possibility of "confusingly similar" copyrights and trademarks will result in ligitation costing in the thousands or even millions of dollars. It is important to recognize the importance of respecting another's intellectual property, because building good habits like giving proper credit when it is due starts with the small things, like the Neopets site community.