All drama aside, I would like to point out a few things I noticed, mainly dealing with similarities between my website, Ballads and Bows (http://www.reisei-sa.net/ballad/) and De'Angelo's new graphic site. I'm pointing out these similarities just so that I'm not the only one who notices them, to confirm that I'm NOT going insane, LOL. Here's what I've seen so far:
1) My biggest complaint is that it seems De'Angelo has taken my idea of five submissions from staff a month. My site isn't a graphic site, but instead a review site. I have had my site online since November, and De'Angelo was at one point a staff member there who should have been familiar with my rules. It seems that De'Angelo has modified one of my rules for his own purposes, without giving any kind of mention as to where he got it from. The quote in question:
"As for staff jobs, all we ask is that you are able to submit at least 5 graphics per month. If you can't do that many for some reason, just let us know and we'll arrange something." - De'Angelo.
The rule he may have plagarised from my site:
"There are five songs up for review per month, and I expect them to be finished by the 28th of each month. No exceptions unless there is a dire emergency, and you have notified me of the situation BEFORE the deadline." -
www.reisei-sa.net/ballad/rules.htmlI'm not saying that five submissions a month from staff members is unique, but his phrasing seemed rather similar to mine. Maybe nicer terminology, but the same general principle. Maybe I'm looking into it too much, but isn't it reasonable to think that maybe, after having agreed to my rules and reading my rules page, to have gotten his idea for this from my site? Before I continue, let me remind everyone of the dictionary definition of plagiarism:
plagiarism - n 1: a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work 2: the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own - dictionary.com
Please note definition number two: taking someones words OR IDEAS as if they were your own. This seems to be what has happened, and I'm not at all appreciative.
2) My second complaint are the staff names. It is not unique to have sailor moon names for reviewers, but this is the second time De'Angelo has modeled "reviewer" names after sailor senshi, as I have done since November 2004 for my websites reviewers. I'm not saying it was outright stolen, as it is fairly common. It's just another similarity that I'd like to point out.
3) The layout. My current layout has navigation at the top in a "box" of sorts (check out the main website to compare my layout and his) with image maps used to navigate. Just like De'Angelos. Isn't that interesting? Image maps have become a bit uncommon on the internet these days for layouts (although they are by far not obsolete or inferior at all - most people just like to slice images in Photoshop instead these days) so I'm a little worried about that similarity as well. Let me know if I'm crazy at any point in my writing this.
4) Last but not least. This has to deal with the staff again. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most layout sites start out with just the owner, and then gain staff as they gain popularity and hits? Ballads and Bows also started out like De'Angelo's site, with advertisements to join the staff as soon as the site opened (in his case though, he's starting even before then o.O) Both Ballads and Bows and De'Angelos ideas ARE able to run without a staff - but the fact that he's opening with a staff just like I did is...a little unusual. Another similarity, but I can't prove anything.
Again, I would like to state that I am not trying to stir up drama here. I'm just wondering if I'm going insane, or if these similarities do in fact exist, and that plagarism may be occuring. I'm just looking for some FRIENDLY (please remember to keep this friendly, potential staff and/or owner) feedback from the users on what they think about this. Of course, I am hoping that any situation dealing with plagarism can be solved quietly and quickly, without any drama. Here's to that *toasts*