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One can't copy a whole website or an app desgin, because it's copyright infringement.

But can one copy it to some degree, while making sure that a reasonable user wouldn't confuse it with the original?

  • I'm referring to the "confusing reasonable user" concept, because this seems to be a main consideration for this kind of question, mentioned in an answer of another question, and also in a related answer by Joel Spolsky (of course, I'm asking a general question, this is not about SE).

If so, what would constitute a design, look, and feel which would not be considered a copy website or app? Is it a question of a ratio (% of copied design)? Does placing disclaimers of "this website is not related to that other website" matter?

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  • This is my first question here, please let me know if there's anything lacking in my question so that it can be answered.
    – HeyJude
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 0:02
  • If you happen to choose similar design choices, that is one thing. For example, if you design your own logo and just happen to choose the same shade of blue as the Twitter logo. However, if you copy the Twitter logo and then modify it, that's a different matter. Even if your final modification ends up as being 0% similar to the copy, you still started with a copy, so that is, in principle, a problem.
    – Brandin
    Commented Nov 18, 2021 at 9:45

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But can one copy it to some degree, while making sure that a reasonable user wouldn't confuse it with the original?

No.

I'm referring to the "confusing reasonable user" concept, because this seems to be a main consideration for this kind of question, mentioned in an answer of another question, and also in a related answer by Joel Spolsky (of course, I'm asking a general question, this is not about SE).

This concept is a test for trademark infringement, not copyright infringement.

If so, what would constitute a design, look, and feel which would not be considered a copy website or app? Is it a question of a ratio (% of copied design)?

It's a fact-specific analysis of the individual case.

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  • How does the decisive No align with the non-deterministic it's a fact-specific analysis?
    – HeyJude
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 0:30
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    @HeyJude you're not allowed to copy material protected by copyright, just as you aren't allowed to confuse consumers by infringing a protected trademark. Whether your website is an infringing copy is determined by a fact-specific analysis, as is whether your website infringes a protected trademark.
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 0:43
  • I see, so the beginning of your answer refers to copyright infrigment, while your ending is for trademark infringement, two terms I mixed up. Thanks.
    – HeyJude
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 0:47
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    @HeyJude if one is accused of copyright infringement because one created a website that resembles another website, there will also be a fact-specific analysis relating to the common elements of the two sites, of whether the creator of the purportedly infringing site in fact copied those elements from the other site, and of whether those elements in fact fall under the source site's copyright protection. For example, if the text "click here to begin the registration process" appears on both sites, it might have been copied from a common source, or ...
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 1:01
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    @HeyJude ... two authors might have composed the sentence independently. What's more, the sentence is probably not sufficiently creative to warrant protection. But if that sentence is one of several dozen screen elements that are arranged similarly on both sites, the arrangement may be protected, and the second site may be infringing. You can't put a percentage on that, though.
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 1:02

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