J.D. Often site owners and designers are shocked to find another site that looks like a virtually exact copy of their site or one they designed. Code is copied.
Background colors are copied.
The way the site operates is copied. The answer is not a simple, straight forward one but it may be that, under certain circumstances, web sites that intentionally copy the so-called look and feel of another site may be subject to claims of copyright infringement under United States law. That Site 1 either has provable damages or has registered its site, including making the required deposit of all the protectable elements, with the copyright office within the time required by the statute. Demonstrating the Elements Copying The key element of course is to show that Site 2 has copied certain otherwise protectable and protected elements from Site 1. Keep in mind that the copyright law is designed to prevent copying and thus Site 1 must be able to prove that such copying took place.