Someone Copied my Designs - What I did

I’ve spent years building a creative business, it’s been a hard slog. When you're a designer, what you make isn't just something you hand over and forget about, your ideas, experience and attention to detail are in there. Over time you build up your business and persevere through the hard times and celebrate the small wins. So when I found another business had copied my designs and original content from my website, I felt like I had been robbed.

I'm a Solopreneur or a small, independent design business owner making personalised memorial stationery. I've put a huge amount of care into my work and it has allowed me the flexibility to blend the demands of family life and work, not always seamlessly I have to say, it can be a real challenge but I'm still here muddling through it all as best I can.

A couple of years back I came across another website in my industry who had taken my original designs and re-worked them. They included this range for sale alongside their own very traditional offerings. Taking a closer look I discovered they had also lifted content I had written. I was horrified and didn't know what to do so I approached my Local Enterprise Board for advice. Firstly I had to document the plagiarism and then contact the company with a polite approach to make them aware of the copying and to request that they remove it as it infringes my copyrights. However they ignored me and added an old date to copied content. I enquired with a Solicitor but this was going to be a very costly for me so eventually I had to weigh it up. I don't have unlimited time and I don't have a budget to throw at something like this. So I stepped away from it as I wasn't willing to lose weeks or months on something that was pulling me away from actually running the business.

Inspiration versus copying

This is an issue I think most designers run into. You put an original idea out into the world and sooner or later something remarkably similar turns up elsewhere. It's a real problem for artists who's work is stolen by big corporations who reproduce their work and sell to mass markets. How can an independent artist take on the big guys!

I understand that in similar business there will be a crossover over of ideas, themes and concepts but there's a line. One shared colour or layout choice doesn't mean much on its own but when several distinctive elements show up together, or when your actual wording and message get reproduced, it is something else entirely.

It happened a second time with the same company

So here's what happened this time! I thought here we go again... they copied my original story, branding story, straplines and content which was slightly altered but in the same sequence that I had written. I was furious. I noticed they had removed a number of the designs that were very like mine which was something I suppose.

So when it happened again, I took a breath before reacting straight away.

The first thing I did was document everything, screenshots of the pages, the URLs, copies of the content, side-by-side comparisons with my own original work. I tried to look at the similarities honestly rather than just deciding "they copied me" and running with it.

It’s important to document first and contact second. Websites can change quickly so get the evidence saved while you still can. I also learned how much it helps to have kept my own working files: drafts, earlier versions of my website copy, old design files. That's what actually lets you show when and how something was made.

I reported the issue with Google

I looked into Google's copyright reporting process and submitted a complaint on the specific pages, along with the material I believed had been copied. I wasn't trying to start a fight. I just wanted the copied material taken down. I could see the report from my previous issue 2 years previously in my Google files also.

This time, something different happened.

They actually responded - I contacted their designer with the details and she got back to me the next day. They acknowledged the similarities in the wording and structure, reviewed the pages, and rewrote the content. They also took down a particular design I'd flagged as a direct copy.

It was a completely different experience from 2024 which I appreciated. They took responsibility and actually made changes. It was a good reminder that sometimes, once something is properly documented and communicated clearly, the other side is willing to put it right. That's genuinely all I wanted. Not a drawn-out dispute, just my work respected and the copy taken down.

What I'd tell another creative

The biggest lesson from all this: keep your original files. If you're a designer, photographer, illustrator, writer, whatever and don't rely on your live website as your only record. Screenshot your work as it exists now. Keep copies of key pages. And if you ever spot someone else's version, screenshot that first, before you reach out, note the URL and the date.

It's also worth being honest with yourself about what you're actually looking at. Is this a general idea that plenty of people in your industry land on, or something distinctive enough that you could point to it and say, clearly, "that's mine"? Being able to answer that honestly is what separates a real case from just feeling annoyed.

When you do get in contact keep it factual. It's tempting to fire off an angry email the moment you spot it, but that rarely gets you anywhere. Explain what you believe was copied, why and then give the other side a chance to respond and fix it.

Your time is precious too and it's easy to fall into checking a competitor's site every day or spending hours trying to build an your case. At some point you have to decide what's actually worth your time. 2024 taught me I didn't want to lose months to this. This time, I documented it properly, used the right channels, and let it go once it was resolved.

You can't fully protect your work - but you can prepare

The uncomfortable truth is that once your work is online, you can't stop someone from copying it. What you can do is make it easy to prove it's yours: keep your files, keep records, take screenshots and don't stay quiet when something's off.

Having your work copied is so infuriating, but keep making things and developing your own style. Protect it where you can, speak up when you need to but don't let someone else's copying take the enjoyment out of it. As the great Patti Smith says keep making quality art and eventually it will pay off. Also when someone copies your work means you are onto a good thing. Keep going!