Correction: “Concerned Fellow ” a commenter below, has pointed out to me that plagiarism is used for words not design and suggested design theft as more appropriate. I have taken the correction. I will still leave the title as it is though but please note the error.
Normally, my blogpost are long which is because I talk a lot. This time around I will go to the point. This morning, I went to Thisday to read my daily news and noticed the site was down, I suspected they would be doing a revamp just like CNN. I came back tonight to check and say a new site and this shocker. The shamelessly copied the BBC website.
Spot the difference…if you can!
Dear Thisday,
If you must plagiarize do not be popular and do it discreetly. You cannot be one of the most visited websites in Nigeria and brazenly copy one of the most popular sites in the world.
Why I am REALLY pissed
• I attended Warwick and I was hunted with the continuing threat of repercussion from plagiarism.
• I am struggling to revamp Nigeria’s image on the web and have spent a lot of time telling anyone I meet that Nigeria has a lot of talent and we are capable of doing world class stuff. This can set my efforts years back. I assure you there are at least 5 Nigeria based designers I know that would do world-class stuff. If you are from Thisday and you want referrals I can help you out 🙂
• You guys can surely do better, aren’t you the guys that do style magazine?
What should be done?
• Pull this disgrace down!
• Sack ok, give a severe warning to whoever is on this project. If it was an outside contract, cancel it immediately, the person has no shame or talent!
If you need local inspiration, look at 234Next or Vanguard.
I am sure you will hear from BBC soon, therefore I expect swift action.
With tough love,
Oo
PS: why did you guys move from .com to .net? what happens to your Page rank of 7 and the years of SEO?
Update: The site is down now, maybe they got the message. I am hoping for something good when it comes back up.
Update 2: It is back up and looks even worse. They even had the nerve to add “© Copyright Thisday Online 2009. All rights reserved.” Please email [email protected] and tell him what you think.
Update 3: Thisday’s .com had stopped redirecting to .net. But the .net is still as up to date as the .com. I am still watching and hoping it is temporary.
yeah i was just as suprised. I kept on wondering if I mistakenly went to the bbc news site
yeah i was just as suprised. I kept on wondering if I mistakenly went to the bbc news site
yeah i was just as suprised. I kept on wondering if I mistakenly went to the bbc news site
This is really bad…something has to be done, and fast too
This is really bad…something has to be done, and fast too
This is really bad…something has to be done, and fast too
Well Oo looking at the site I may not want to blame Thisday totally. Yes they might have asked the web designer to come up with a design that looks like BBC's but it's up to the designer to obey. You can borrow ideas without necessarily plagiarizing. Personally I would have ditched their layout and come up with something better and pitched it to them. That being said, this is really embarrassing. (pls delete my first comment I made a mistake)
Well Oo looking at the site I may not want to blame Thisday totally. Yes they might have asked the web designer to come up with a design that looks like BBC's but it's up to the designer to obey. You can borrow ideas without necessarily plagiarizing. Personally I would have ditched their layout and come up with something better and pitched it to them. That being said, this is really embarrassing. (pls delete my first comment I made a mistake)
Thisday why now????? You have just gone backwards 10 steps please rectify immediately before any more people see it. Ejooooooo!!!!!
Thisday why now????? You have just gone backwards 10 steps please rectify immediately before any more people see it. Ejooooooo!!!!!
ThisDay is obviously confused for changing to .net, and shameless for blatantly copying BBC News.
SHAME!
The fact that you even noticed that they are confused for changing to .net shows you know what you are talking about, it is people like you we need running things in our country not some dumb people who will openly support this shamful act. Well done!!
ThisDay is obviously confused for changing to .net, and shameless for blatantly copying BBC News.
SHAME!
The fact that you even noticed that they are confused for changing to .net shows you know what you are talking about, it is people like you we need running things in our country not some dumb people who will openly support this shamful act. Well done!!
ThisDay is obviously confused for changing to .net, and shameless for blatantly copying BBC News.
SHAME!
The fact that you even noticed that they are confused for changing to .net shows you know what you are talking about, it is people like you we need running things in our country not some dumb people who will openly support this shamful act. Well done!!
Hmmm, I rest my case till another time.
Hmmm, I rest my case till another time.
I never knew there was plagiarism in the website industry. But it is obvious that the management of This day, may ve been misdirected by their IT department. Solution is do something unique. This is beautiful, but if you re standing on a potential law suit,you may ve a rethink.
I never knew there was plagiarism in the website industry. But it is obvious that the management of This day, may ve been misdirected by their IT department. Solution is do something unique. This is beautiful, but if you re standing on a potential law suit,you may ve a rethink.
I positively dislike it when people take it upon themselves to "right" the image of his compatriots because he wants outsiders to view his country as good or whatever. I think Nigeria is about the only nation that has people singing patriotism in all aspects of life, as if humanity is not errant and prone to sin just like any other set of people from any nation. Please don't speak for me as a Nigerian. Just as there are bad nigerians, there are bad americans, britons, italians etc. There are also many good people all over the world. If we have problems, well, it has its root cause in the mess we find ourselves in as an entity.
I positively dislike it when people take it upon themselves to "right" the image of his compatriots because he wants outsiders to view his country as good or whatever. I think Nigeria is about the only nation that has people singing patriotism in all aspects of life, as if humanity is not errant and prone to sin just like any other set of people from any nation. Please don't speak for me as a Nigerian. Just as there are bad nigerians, there are bad americans, britons, italians etc. There are also many good people all over the world. If we have problems, well, it has its root cause in the mess we find ourselves in as an entity.
Damn!!as a web designer i give u kudos for the WEB POLICING.. Thisday IS a big brand so i dont think they did this, Honestly!, i believe the web designer that was given the contract to do this is to blame, The dudes at Thisday probably thought he{the Web Designer}did a hell of a job,to bad it was a dud..
Damn!!as a web designer i give u kudos for the WEB POLICING.. Thisday IS a big brand so i dont think they did this, Honestly!, i believe the web designer that was given the contract to do this is to blame, The dudes at Thisday probably thought he{the Web Designer}did a hell of a job,to bad it was a dud..
Thisday, this is a boo boo.
Thisday, this is a boo boo.
Absolutely shameful and I am sure someone was paid to innovate. A disgrace
Absolutely shameful and I am sure someone was paid to innovate. A disgrace
It’s a shameful act!It is not in our character as Nigerians to do such things!ThisDay should be very ashamed!What’s there in designing something genuine to themself?Why are they continuing in this kind of self inflicted “neo-colonialism”?Please,ThisDay,do something fast about this!
It’s a shameful act!It is not in our character as Nigerians to do such things!ThisDay should be very ashamed!What’s there in designing something genuine to themself?Why are they continuing in this kind of self inflicted “neo-colonialism”?Please,ThisDay,do something fast about this!
Am responding on impulse & have not even checked the Thisday – BBC issue. Bt pls be relentless & follow up the issue so that we see how they respond (Thisday). This is really a slap on our academic excellence as a nation & serious set back 2 all those that care about the image & moral standing of NIJA.
Am responding on impulse & have not even checked the Thisday – BBC issue. Bt pls be relentless & follow up the issue so that we see how they respond (Thisday). This is really a slap on our academic excellence as a nation & serious set back 2 all those that care about the image & moral standing of NIJA.
Am responding on impulse & have not even checked the Thisday – BBC issue. Bt pls be relentless & follow up the issue so that we see how they respond (Thisday). This is really a slap on our academic excellence as a nation & serious set back 2 all those that care about the image & moral standing of NIJA.
…keep my fingers crossed! though yet 2 check i believe some1 is simply negligent……..& ld pay 4 it!
…keep my fingers crossed! though yet 2 check i believe some1 is simply negligent……..& ld pay 4 it!
Call a spade a spade, not necessarily to please anyone. Goggi, examine your principles, they are faulty. ThisDay’s action will rob you of any dignity you have as a Nigerian, if you have any. To ThisDay, I say shame!!!
Call a spade a spade, not necessarily to please anyone. Goggi, examine your principles, they are faulty. ThisDay’s action will rob you of any dignity you have as a Nigerian, if you have any. To ThisDay, I say shame!!!
Making blunders of monumental proportion is becoming a reocurring phenomenon with Thisday. This is just one of those.Please save us and yourselves this interantionl embarassment asap.
Making blunders of monumental proportion is becoming a reocurring phenomenon with Thisday. This is just one of those.Please save us and yourselves this interantionl embarassment asap.
And so what if they copied the BBC? Who are they supposed to copy? Do you want them to invent another way of designing a website?…Hear yourself.. 'I attended Warwick and I was hunted with the continuing threat of repercussion from plagiarism. I am struggling to revamp Nigeria’s image on the web and have spent a lot of time telling anyone I meet that Nigeria has a lot of talent and we are capable of doing world class stuff. This can set my efforts years back.'' Please spare us that your messianic delusions!
"And so what if they copied the BBC? Who are they supposed to copy? Do you want them to invent another way of designing a website?"
Mr Gozie, Are you for real? You are the exact reason why Nigeria is so behind. Show your friends this blogpost then your reply and I am sure they will be proud of you. Good luck to those who look up to you.
And so what if they copied the BBC? Who are they supposed to copy? Do you want them to invent another way of designing a website?…Hear yourself.. 'I attended Warwick and I was hunted with the continuing threat of repercussion from plagiarism. I am struggling to revamp Nigeria’s image on the web and have spent a lot of time telling anyone I meet that Nigeria has a lot of talent and we are capable of doing world class stuff. This can set my efforts years back.'' Please spare us that your messianic delusions!
"And so what if they copied the BBC? Who are they supposed to copy? Do you want them to invent another way of designing a website?"
Mr Gozie, Are you for real? You are the exact reason why Nigeria is so behind. Show your friends this blogpost then your reply and I am sure they will be proud of you. Good luck to those who look up to you.
Please whats all the fuss about. CNN webpage ( http://www.cnn.com/ ) also has the same type of design just that the contents are listed on the top not at the side. So please tell me, who copied who. 🙂
Mr Lover (nice name), of course you are joking about the similarity of CNN and BBC. Just so other people will know the though process that goes into designing such sites please read http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/alissa-walker/des…
Please whats all the fuss about. CNN webpage ( http://www.cnn.com/ ) also has the same type of design just that the contents are listed on the top not at the side. So please tell me, who copied who. 🙂
Mr Lover (nice name), of course you are joking about the similarity of CNN and BBC. Just so other people will know the though process that goes into designing such sites please read http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/alissa-walker/des…
Please whats all the fuss about. CNN webpage ( http://www.cnn.com/ ) also has the same type of design just that the contents are listed on the top not at the side. So please tell me, who copied who. 🙂
This has nothing to do with plagiarism. 'plagiarism' is most often used with words… using other people's writings as though it's yours. i checked in hoping to find an accusation of a This day writer dubbing another's work!…this is a contextual error, so change. It is not good for the reputation of your site. Always use the dictionary. If you categorise this as 'design theft', i think This day will still go free, there exist differences… they only modelled after BBC, which is good. Its following excellence. Be careful with this posting you stand the danger of a criminal prosecution (coporate defamation). From my legal experience, this is not good, i am writing in from UK, this harm to the organisation is spreading.
Thanks for the correction. But design theft is still VERY wrong.
Please can you point out the difference between the two sites apart from the Thisday logo?
@concerned fellow, the only word I can use to describe you at this moment is "Pant". who gives a Flying F**K if ur in the UK, the fact that you mentioned that and honestly think it would mean a thing to anyone shows us ur level of literacy. A company that claims to be the most popular in Africa and ends up coying the most popular and most viewed news website in the world is dumb foolish. There are many unemployed programmers in Nigeria that would be ready to make a brand new website from the scratch without the need of an already used template roaming the streets of Nigeria without a job and some lame ass 3rd class B.sc holder with connection as being given the job and has come up with this insult of a website to the dignity of Nigerians and you dare to drop a comment like that? So what if templates are allowed? does that give you the go ahead as a reputable organisation resident in the great country Nigeria to use it? What's wrong in originality? why can't they design one that others can use as a template?I mean was it an alien that designed the original template and then now no one else can produce something original?It's this second hand / cheap lifestyle which you "Pant" will continue to support that has kept Nigeria with all it's great talent unemployed and leading to the backwardness of our nation…KMT!!!
This has nothing to do with plagiarism. 'plagiarism' is most often used with words… using other people's writings as though it's yours. i checked in hoping to find an accusation of a This day writer dubbing another's work!…this is a contextual error, so change. It is not good for the reputation of your site. Always use the dictionary. If you categorise this as 'design theft', i think This day will still go free, there exist differences… they only modelled after BBC, which is good. Its following excellence. Be careful with this posting you stand the danger of a criminal prosecution (coporate defamation). From my legal experience, this is not good, i am writing in from UK, this harm to the organisation is spreading.
Thanks for the correction. But design theft is still VERY wrong.
Please can you point out the difference between the two sites apart from the Thisday logo?
@concerned fellow, the only word I can use to describe you at this moment is "Pant". who gives a Flying F**K if ur in the UK, the fact that you mentioned that and honestly think it would mean a thing to anyone shows us ur level of literacy. A company that claims to be the most popular in Africa and ends up coying the most popular and most viewed news website in the world is dumb foolish. There are many unemployed programmers in Nigeria that would be ready to make a brand new website from the scratch without the need of an already used template roaming the streets of Nigeria without a job and some lame ass 3rd class B.sc holder with connection as being given the job and has come up with this insult of a website to the dignity of Nigerians and you dare to drop a comment like that? So what if templates are allowed? does that give you the go ahead as a reputable organisation resident in the great country Nigeria to use it? What's wrong in originality? why can't they design one that others can use as a template?I mean was it an alien that designed the original template and then now no one else can produce something original?It's this second hand / cheap lifestyle which you "Pant" will continue to support that has kept Nigeria with all it's great talent unemployed and leading to the backwardness of our nation…KMT!!!
Oo There are also certain copyright issues involved here. As a designer I wouldn't want someone else copying 90% of my design and rebranding it as his own. Imagine if a new gsm company came up now with a logo that looks exactly like MTN but they brand theirs WTN or something. Mind you for those that don't know a German website was successfully sued by facebook for stealing their design. The site was a red version of facebook with distinct similarities to the original. Bottom line I don't know if the BBC or the design outfit that built the site has copyright for the template or design but if they do then Thisday is screwed. Another instance for those of you that don't know McDonalds does not have a single branch in Nigeria but they sued the then Big Macs for copyright infringement and won. Big Macs had to change their name to Hunger Busters. So to all the unexposed out there the fact that piracy and intellectual property theft goes on unchecked in this country doesnt make it right. Let's call a spade a spade and stop defending mediocrity
Oo There are also certain copyright issues involved here. As a designer I wouldn't want someone else copying 90% of my design and rebranding it as his own. Imagine if a new gsm company came up now with a logo that looks exactly like MTN but they brand theirs WTN or something. Mind you for those that don't know a German website was successfully sued by facebook for stealing their design. The site was a red version of facebook with distinct similarities to the original. Bottom line I don't know if the BBC or the design outfit that built the site has copyright for the template or design but if they do then Thisday is screwed. Another instance for those of you that don't know McDonalds does not have a single branch in Nigeria but they sued the then Big Macs for copyright infringement and won. Big Macs had to change their name to Hunger Busters. So to all the unexposed out there the fact that piracy and intellectual property theft goes on unchecked in this country doesnt make it right. Let's call a spade a spade and stop defending mediocrity
Am happy that hope is not lost. Thanks for bringing this to our attetion. Where are the ideas? what happened to creativity?
Am happy that hope is not lost. Thanks for bringing this to our attetion. Where are the ideas? what happened to creativity?
If you's lot are so concernd y dont you design an original website and send it to them for free….Defamation can be viewed by the courts as a very serious offence, no matter how small the issue is, becareful who throw your accusations at…as a fellow lawyer all i can say is the end can be disastrous. nyways..i believ i represent an amazing nigeria everywhere i go and that is far greater than something as stupid copying a template.
Rhodicious, are you condoning this? Some of your comments amaze me…
"Defamation can be viewed by the courts as a very serious offence"
Defamation? The evidence is right on this page! The design is a complete and poor rip off! I am not accusing someone of adultery or theft without proof. I am talking of what you can see with your eyes. i'd like to see them sue me hahaha!
"i believ i represent an amazing nigeria everywhere i go and that is far greater than something as stupid copying a template"
What you do not understand is that Thisday has 1 million times more reach than you, everyday. If they show on that scale there is no creativity in Nigeria, there is little you can do to change the image.
if we all should believe that..then what hope do we have?
If you's lot are so concernd y dont you design an original website and send it to them for free….Defamation can be viewed by the courts as a very serious offence, no matter how small the issue is, becareful who throw your accusations at…as a fellow lawyer all i can say is the end can be disastrous. nyways..i believ i represent an amazing nigeria everywhere i go and that is far greater than something as stupid copying a template.
Rhodicious, are you condoning this? Some of your comments amaze me…
"Defamation can be viewed by the courts as a very serious offence"
Defamation? The evidence is right on this page! The design is a complete and poor rip off! I am not accusing someone of adultery or theft without proof. I am talking of what you can see with your eyes. i'd like to see them sue me hahaha!
"i believ i represent an amazing nigeria everywhere i go and that is far greater than something as stupid copying a template"
What you do not understand is that Thisday has 1 million times more reach than you, everyday. If they show on that scale there is no creativity in Nigeria, there is little you can do to change the image.
if we all should believe that..then what hope do we have?
Ok something funny seems to be going on. It appears this new site is a fake one.
There's currently thisdayonline.com and thisdayonline.net which is the new fake one.
ThisDay need to sort it out though.
Thisday.com was initially redirecting to Thisday.net which made me wonder about their SEO stuff. But they now have Thisday on 2 different domains. I guess they want to give their site a face lift but they have given it to an armature to handle. To show how naive their web/PR team is, no one has even responded on this post explaining what is happening.
Ok something funny seems to be going on. It appears this new site is a fake one.
There's currently thisdayonline.com and thisdayonline.net which is the new fake one.
ThisDay need to sort it out though.
Thisday.com was initially redirecting to Thisday.net which made me wonder about their SEO stuff. But they now have Thisday on 2 different domains. I guess they want to give their site a face lift but they have given it to an armature to handle. To show how naive their web/PR team is, no one has even responded on this post explaining what is happening.
Oo the Nigerian,
Look before you leap! Ask questions too and do a proper investigation and research before you lash out at thisday etc. (noting that you "attended Warwick").
Thisdayonline.com is the original website and it still exists. If Nduka and his cohorts declare to you (or anyone else for that matter) that they have change their website, then you posses a moral justification to blog or "cry wolf". People like you have some good intentions but your inability to follow procedure and your lack of understanding of the big picture can cause damage to individuals and organisations and also to your reputation.
I expect you to honorably write about the situation as it develops. (assuming you are technically sound enough to understand what just happened…that is)
My two cents
The Scholar, Thank you for your interest, the original website redirected me to the .net that is how i got to know in the first place.
I will update the post as I get more information. Thanks again for your feedback 🙂
Oo the Nigerian,
Look before you leap! Ask questions too and do a proper investigation and research before you lash out at thisday etc. (noting that you "attended Warwick").
Thisdayonline.com is the original website and it still exists. If Nduka and his cohorts declare to you (or anyone else for that matter) that they have change their website, then you posses a moral justification to blog or "cry wolf". People like you have some good intentions but your inability to follow procedure and your lack of understanding of the big picture can cause damage to individuals and organisations and also to your reputation.
I expect you to honorably write about the situation as it develops. (assuming you are technically sound enough to understand what just happened…that is)
My two cents
The Scholar, Thank you for your interest, the original website redirected me to the .net that is how i got to know in the first place.
I will update the post as I get more information. Thanks again for your feedback 🙂
Thisday why now????? You have just gone backwards 10 steps please rectify immediately before any more people see it. Ejooooooo!!!!!