« Previous | Next »
Copy This
Published on 07/12/07
by willpate
Don’t worry about people copying what you do, worry about when they stop.
No matter what you make, people are going to copy you. It’s getting easier and faster to share ideas, rip and burn content and commoditize technology. You don’t even need to be on the same continent anymore.
Pro tip: start studying the copies and the copiers to stay ahead. Knowing the number of copycats, their talent, the market response to their copies, and the parity gap all give you an edge. Clever innovation will keep you at the head of the pack.
A variation of Jeffrey Zeldman on having your design stolen.
That's it. What Next?
Please leave your comment so I know what you think about this article.
Comments on Copy This
4 Responses
Joe Clark
07/12/07
One may “share ideas.” Of course. One may even copy ideas, as ideas are not protectable. Expressions of ideas are, and I’m sorry, not all of us are onboard with the idea that such protections do not exist in practice (they do) and should not in the first place (they should).
Will Pate
07/12/07
What protection do you have if a factory in China decides to start making copies of something you make? Or India? Or Nigeria?
Edith Larkin
07/12/07
So true Will, at least from a programmers point of view, if what you need has already been created, why try invent the wheel !
Stephane
19/12/07
That’s true that only good ideas are copied. This way, being copied shows you how innovative you are. However, there are lots of “good” ideas that were never copied (that were never put in practice indeed), does-it mean they were “bad” ideas ?
Leave a Reply