Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California
Website functionality commonalities
I have started a small internet start-up that essentially allows individuals to upload photos of the fashion/clothing they wear and allow the internet community the opportunity to rate and comment on these fashion-related photos. We are about 60% done with the design phase and yesterday, during a search, I came across a site that is very similar to the one I am creating. I hadn't noticed this site in my exhaustive search before building the site presumably because they have very, very, low utilization. Wondering what the law is around putting up a site with functionality similar to a site already in cyberspace. I would not be duplicating any of the content but the functionality of the site would be the same i.e. rating the photos, commenting on the photos, both dealing with fashion, etc.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Website functionality commonalities
As long as you didn't actually copy from them, you should be okay. Copyright covers "original works of authorship," which means your work originated with you, not someone else.
This is not to say they won't try to sue you for copying functionality for which they have patents, etc. But, again, unless you've actually copied them, you have a defense.
Re: Website functionality commonalities
I don't see any problem with it. You're not using their trademark or copying their code. This is just competition. Ever notice a similarity between the evening news shows from NBC, FOX, ABC and CBS?
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