Internet for Dummies???

Big Mouth

Could be a stupid question but is it possible to duplicate a site? By that I mean if a guy owned a site could I white label off it (If he agreed of course).

If so would I receive all updates the original site would have, and would I be able to use the functions of the site (functions are most important) but change the actual lay out and design? Any help appreciated

Sorry if this is confusing!!

p

The short answer is yes. The long answer is that how difficult it is radically depends on technology used and a variety of other factors.

As a general guide, i'd say you may be able to copy it once, but ongoing updates are not going to work.

cormee

Big Mouth wrote: »

Could be a stupid question but is it possible to duplicate a site? By that I mean if a guy owned a site could I white label off it (If he agreed of course).

If so would I receive all updates the original site would have, and would I be able to use the functions of the site (functions are most important) but change the actual lay out and design? Any help appreciated

Sorry if this is confusing!!

What do you mean by functions?

Are they client-side or server-side? If they are client-side you could copy the site and they could run straight away. If they are server-side you'd need 1 of two things - either the other website should allow forms/functions be executed from remote locations (your site), or if you're hosting the files yourself you'll need the original source files from that site before they've been executed, also in this case you'd need to configure the source files to run on your server's particular configuration.

Liam Byrne

Also bear in mind that if his site was developed by a third-party, or a professional designer/developer, chances are that he does not have the rights to give you a copy the site and its code.

fergalfrog

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Also bear in mind that if his site was developed by a third-party, or a professional designer/developer, chances are that he does not have the rights to give you a copy the site and its code.

I know this might be going slightly off-topic but I doubt that is the case. Do some design companies work like this? It would be like a photgrapher owning the photos taken at a wedding. You may be right Liam but I guess it depends on what or who was used to build the site.

Personally if I build a site for someone then they own that code (with some limitations).

p

fergalfrog wrote: »

I know this might be going slightly off-topic but I doubt that is the case. Do some design companies work like this? It would be like a photgrapher owning the photos taken at a wedding. You may be right Liam but I guess it depends on what or who was used to build the site.

Actually, usually wedding photographers do own the photos they take, you pay for prints of those photos.

If you've spent years developing libraries and code that allows you make sites for clients very quickly, there's no way that you'd give the code to someone else who could theoretically resell it. You selling them a solution, not source code.

fergalfrog

Yes I sell them a solution - and the source code as mentioned with limitations. They are not allowed to sell on or distribute as their own. I include my copyright limitation in the files I provide after I found someone trying to sell a set of files I created!

They can and have to be allowed to make modifications (which is what is happening for the OP).

Liam Byrne

fergalfrog wrote: »

I know this might be going slightly off-topic but I doubt that is the case. Do some design companies work like this? It would be like a photgrapher owning the photos taken at a wedding.

Photographers do own the photos taken at a wedding.

fergalfrog wrote: »

Yes I sell them a solution - and the source code as mentioned with limitations. They are not allowed to sell on or distribute as their own. I include my copyright limitation in the files I provide after I found someone trying to sell a set of files I created!

They can and have to be allowed to make modifications (which is what is happening for the OP).

I would have read it that the OP was taking a copy of the existing website, therefore that part of your post is the part that's relevant.

Big Mouth wrote: »

is it possible to duplicate a site? By that I mean if a guy owned a site could I white label off it

fergalfrog

Yes I stand corrected - I misread the OP.

The wedding photographer was a bad example too. I guess at the end of the day the OP will need to get the permission from the author if he intends to white label it.