Journal

LogoMaid Rip-offs

24 March 2007 › 21 comments

I have not blogged in awhile, mainly because Real Life™ has been really busy lately. My new job has been quite fulfilling, and freelancing work has also been going well (write-ups forthcoming). In that regard, I have no complaints. Regretfully, I am writing to inform you that LogoMaid is a business comprised of thieves and people who provide really poor customer service.

Recently, I learned that LogoMaid had stolen the Godbit logo, among others. Initially, I tried to handle this discreetly by contacting LogoMaid directly. After a series of rude emails from Jan Kalvan and Peter Olexa of LogoMaid, I am at an impasse. They claim that because their site was launched in Jan ’05, and Godbit began posting articles in Nov ’05, this somehow proves ownership.

Yet, I registered godbit.com in August 2003. I even referred them to the WHOIS on Network Solutions for verification, since they were using domain registration as the litmus test. They responded by saying this didn’t prove anything, and suggested that perhaps I was the one who stole and that I should re-do the Godbit logo. Interesting how registration dates are definitive if the data supports LogoMaid, but if not then it is deemed irrelevant.

This would appear to be a freak coincidence, if it was an isolated incident. The fact of the matter is: LogoMaid is in the business of selling stolen intellectual property in the form of logos. While I am sure that at least some of their work is original and legitimate, they have proven time and again to be rip-off artists. I present the following comparisons as evidence of theft:

LogoMaid rip-offs: Apple.com, Godbit.com, Panic.com, Simplebits.com, OSX Chess

Further Reading

The one commonality between the Godbit and SimpleBits logos is that the process behind each one was described thoroughly. Perhaps the dim-wits at LogoMaid took this to mean the logos were up for grabs. I had written about my creative process in Drawing a Good Logo, and Dan had described his own method in Re-Brand New. Looks like LogoMaid does paint-by-number.

I will not belabor the point. I think it is pretty obvious just by looking at the info-graphic that LogoMaid is clearly as unethical as they are dismissive of complaints. I will simply provide links to the following LogoMaid write-ups:

Discussions:

Screenshots:

Discussion + Dissension

  1. #1 Girish

    “They copied all they could follow but they couldn’t copy my mind so I left them sweating and stealing a year and a half behind”

    - Rudyard Kipling.

    Shame on creativity thieves!

  2. #2 Jeff Croft

    My advice? Relax. This doesn’t hurt GodBit in any way, shape, or form. Don’t let a third-rate ripoff artist get you down. If you let yourself get mad and frustrated over this kind of thing, you’ll never be anything but mad and frustrated.

  3. #3 Nathan Smith

    Girish: Thanks for the great quote. I agree, those who imitate will always be left lagging behind.

    Jeff: I’m not mad/frustrated. I just figured I might as well address it, since I have already received a few emails about it. It’s not unlike how you posted regarding your dissatisfaction with the hosting service of 1and1.

    http://jeffcroft.com/blog/2006/feb/27/11-internet-is-the-devil/

    Does that mean you continue to be “mad and frustrated” with 1and1? No, you posted about it and have moved on. Same situation here. Plus, this and other write-ups about LogoMaid will serve as a reminder to them in the future.

  4. #4 Ian

    Something like this is always worth shining light onto. Here’s another common quote that is applicable:

    “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” -Edmund Burke

    While blogging about these losers may not be a solution in and of themselves, it discredits the perps in a small way that – who knows- may have an eventual impact.

    This brings up the whole topic of “logo stores” which to my knowledge, seriously bother all real designers, including myself, due to the degradation they bring to the entire industry. I have had the opportunity to have a discussion about them from time to time with clients, who ask me why they would want to pay $600+ on a logo when they could get one online for free.

  5. #5 Nate Klaiber

    They are kicking themselves in the butt. Do a quick search for Logomaid and you get their site first, followed by a string of ‘Logomaid are thieves’ – I am sure people will take notice if they choose to research logomaid.

    Funny thing is, they could have saved themselves the embarrassment by simply removing the stolen logos – instead they try to blindly defend it with fictional dates (all of which only support them).

    I have no real vested interest in it – just think its funny how they are only adding to their negative publicity. Looks like they are pretty dumb all around.

  6. #6 Jeff Croft

    @Nathan: Fair enough. :)

  7. #7 Rick Curran

    Wow, I hadn’t seen that chess icon ripoff, there obviously is not a very thorough vetting process for icons that people submit to LogoMaid otherwise these things would not have gotten through. Presumably they’ll claim that Apple stole this icon from them!

  8. #8 James Mitchell

    While I was watching this whole ordeal unfolding, I sat back in my chair and thought: wow. I was at a loss, I couldn’t believe it, and I was beside myself. We all look at others work for inspiration, but to blatantly copy someone else’s hard work is absurd.

    I applaud your descreet attempt at resolving the situation, that is the admirable thing to do. I too would be disappointed with the response, and frustrated with it all.

    I am not exactly sure what is going to happen to that company in the future, but surely there will be some lawsuits and the like. My guess is they will cease to be either from lawsuits or from bad publicity. So I end with where I begin: wow!

  9. #9 Ara Pehlivanian

    I’ve been following this for a few days now so when I saw your post I thought I’d go to LogoMaid.com and see if I could find any ripoffs myself. You know, just for kicks. I clicked on “unique logos” (right next to “non-unique logos”, what is that, and admission of guilt?) and on the first page, found this.

    http://flickr.com/photos/27496223@N00/435217126/

  10. #10 Jim Cook

    I have occasionally browsed them there pre-built logos. I don’t always have the time or energy to spend developing a logo, especially after putting in a lot of hours developing my site and the host of backend apps. Sometimes a “stock” logo is appealing in this light (look down upon me if you must). However, the likelihood of me making a purchase just went down considerably. I don’t know now who’s work I’m purchasing. I would hate to receive a nasty-gram or a cease-and-desist from a designer somewhere claiming that I’m using his stolen work.

    Thanks for muddying the water there LogoMaid. I’m sure other pre-built logo vendors are lovin’ ya right about now too since they’re probably coming under the shadow you’re casting.

  11. #11 Jeff Croft

    I definitely think that pre-made logos have their place in the world, just as pre-made web templates and stock photos do. Their place isn’t in high-end design, but they have a place, nonetheless.

    But yes, those pre-made logos need to not be stolen. The real victims here are those who have bought logos from LogoMaid, not the designers. There’s probably someone out there who has bought that top logo from LogoMaid and stands to be litigated against by Apple — when they had no idea they were doing anything wrong.

    That was really the point I was making over at my site. Yes, this would be frustrating for GodBit and for Dan Cederholm. But in the end, no real harm is done to them because of this. The real harm is done to LogoMaid’s customers — and that is why they deserve to have their name smeared the way is has been.

  12. #12 Ben G.

    I hate that this happened to you, Nathan. I think you’re handling it well though, for what it’s worth.

  13. #13 Rick Curran

    Apparently LogoMaid has apologised to Dan Cederholm and removed the logo from their site:

    www.eloq…..26/logomaid-apologizes-to-dan-cederholm/

    The apology is on the Flickr thread that’s been running.

    flickr.com/photos/simplebitsdan/4292….

    Nathan, have you heard anything more from them about the GodBit logo?

  14. #14 Nathan Smith

    Rick: The LogoMaid people still insist that their version of the Godbit logo is an original. It’s sad, because they had it in the free section, so it’s not like they’re losing revenue if they remove it. On the contrary, they garner nothing but bad publicity for themselves by continuing the charade. ‘Tis sad, really.

  15. #15 Rick Curran

    Mmm, perhaps some continued blog publicity for LogoMaid is required?

    I noticed that John Gruber even mentioned the GodBit logo on DaringFireball.net too.

  16. #16 Nathan Smith

    Rick: Thanks for mentioning that. I don’t think I would have noticed otherwise. I dug up the link, and I like what he had to say. My thoughts exactly:

    What’s funny is that the LogoMaid artist completely missed what’s clever about the original Godbit logo, that the green part forms a “G” and the whitespace forms a “b”. – Daringfireball.net

  17. #17 Grand

    I stand with you.
    http://grandfinale2002.christian.net/index.php?entry=entry070326-101737

  18. #18 Ara Pehlivanian

    Nathan: You might want to post the screen grab/comparison directly on Dan’s “Sigh…” Flickr thread. The “Couche-Tard” owl logo ripoff that I posted got pulled within the hour.

  19. #19 Nathan Logan

    Just glad to see that in linking out to LogoMaid, you attached a rel=“nofollow”.

    Sorry to see you ripped, but maybe it’ll just be more publicity for Godbit. =)

  20. #20 Jenny

    Logomaid being is stealing? Surely you must be mistaken! ;-)

    I have been following Logomaid for quite some time now basically because another website of theirs “designgalaxy.net” stole two website designs of mine and started selling them as web templates. This was almost three years ago but at the time I wasn’t able to do anything with them because they are located in East Europe.

    But then I realized that they had launched logomaid and it was the same thing all over again. Stealing other people’s ideas and not just getting “inspired” by the original concept, but outright stealing.

    I am sorry that your design was stolen too but I believe the action that you are taking is just and you should not let it go. Rather you should make as much a fuss as possible so that all this is registered on the search engines and these people feel the pain. Good luck!

  21. #21 Jeff McG

    You might want to check here: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/03/0330_plagiarism/index_01.htm

    Ripping off or borrowing is a time honored tradition, a really crappy one if you are the one being ripped off. I have seen some of my own product designs appear without being licensed or without my permission at all.

    I’m glad you called them on it. It’s all you can do without getting a phalanx of lawyers involved. Of course, you could send some examples to the museum link above, maybe they will accept your example!

    Jeff

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