It hasn’t even been 24 hours since we wrote about the impending launch of TweetMeme competitor ReTweet, and already TweetMeme founder Nick Halstead is threatening ReTweet with a lawsuit. He takes being king of retweets very seriously.
It is not so much the apparent flat-out copying of TweetMeme’s Website design (ReTweet has not even launched in private beta yet), that bothers him. After all, TweetMeme itself was highly “inspired” by another news aggregator, Techmeme. What bugs him is what he claims to be almost exact copying of code. Halstead writes on the TweetMeme blog:
What caught my attention was that some industrious individual (@travisketchum) had left a comment on the TechCrunch article that he had been doing some digging around on the website and had found a link to their development environment. What we found ourselves was that our retweet button Javascript and the Wordpress plugin code seemed to have been directly copied from ours.
Update: ReTweet (or at least its holding company Mesiab Labs) responds.
He had to look no further than the code for the retweet button itself. The code below is what he found, which he says is “an exact copy of our own retweet button code with the word ‘tweetmeme’ replaced with ‘retweet’”.
(function()
{
var _url=window.location.href;
var _url=_url.replace(/((?:?|&)?fbc_receiver=.+)?(?:#.*)?$/,”");
var url=((typeof retweet_url==”string”)?retweet_url:((typeof retweet_URL==”string”)?retweet_URL:_url)).replace(/+/g,”%2b”);
var source=(typeof retweet_source==”string”)?escape(retweet_source):((typeof retweet_SOURCE==”string”)?escape(retweet_SOURCE):false);
var style=(typeof retweet_style==”string”)?escape(retweet_style):((typeof retweet_STYLE==”string”)?escape(retweet_STYLE):”normal”);
var src=”http://174.129.199.128/meme/widget/tweets/”;
switch(style){
case”compact”:
var h=20;var w=90;break;
case”rednose”:var h=71;var w=60;break;default:var h=71;var w=60;break
}
src+=url;
if(source!=false)
{
src+=”&source=”+source
}
document.write(”);
retweet_url=null;
retweet_URL=null;
retweet_source=null;
retweet_SOURCE=null;
retweet_style=null;
retweet_STYLE=null})();
I just hope all of these startups realize that Twitter could just end up trademarking the term just like they did with Tweet.
fp
Seriously, Nick Halstead should see this as an opportunity.
1) We will sue the shit out of you
2) Sell us the domain, you still get cash – probably more than you will have ever made anyway – happy days.
Whats in a Button? Let the button wars begin!
Googls “My Location” search engine appears to conflict with the “MyLocator” search engine trademark.
why would twitter be automatically be given the right to trademark ‘retwit’.
Trademark laws are crazy and need some realism inject in them.
If you started a business using a term and became famous for it, then the gov grants you some protection against others capitalizing on your brand.
Basically without twitter, nobody will be naming their company twit this or tweet that. So it is throuth twitter’s effort that the term has value hence protection.
Its the same thing as Pod… Apple has trademark over anything ‘pod’… but before you go crazy about that since pod is a common word… trademark laws apply only to the field where the product has commercial value (specified in the trademark application)
So a ‘TunesPod’ music recommendation service would probably violate the Trademark whereas a ‘CoffeePod’ coffee maker may not.
Same as Tweet… I doubt twitter’s trademark would block someone from opening a bird store called Tweets.
you are correct if Twitter was the first to use the words “tweet” and “retweet.” If their users or a third party app used the word(s) first, even if it is in relation to twitters services.
wow very bold
I retweeted it.
And then Twitter builds the feature in itself and starts displaying this data.
pwned.
Could the code bee any different? LoL
Twitter would be crazy to stunt their growth by going after partners in the ecosystem re: trademark
On this subject stealing code is bad.
This would be very interesting. I know it is an exact copy of the tweetmeme button.. but this reminds me of Feedburner and a host of other services. A lot of companies just copied their design, but the best service won in the long run and it was Feedburner.
Sounds like a case of no ReTweet (get it?).
Sorry I just could’t help myself….
is that a fwench accent? did i get this right?
Wow, it is exactly the same. Firebug FTW!
What a joke, a lawsuit over 20 lines of string parsing code. Why does anyone take Twitter startups seriously again?
+1
+7 million
“a lawsuit over 20 lines of string parsing code” – 20 strings turns into 500 hundred, into an entire product. And unless I am mistaken – in IP law, you dont have much else to go on than your code and your brand putting aside the patent law.
Seems “retweet” shits over “tweetmeme” as a logical brand so the only thing left is …. ?
You cant expect a startup that has taken serious funding, reports to investors and has a vested interest from all sweat equity put into their products success to do “nothing” when an individual gets hold of a better domain name and simply copies the entire website code and launches it.
If they had of legitimately produced their own site and code – good luck to them. Put to blantly copy – its a pretty clear no, no.
Wordpress themes, plugins, etc., are GPL because they are derivative works of the Wordpress base code for themes, plugins, etc.
+1
“Seems “retweet” shits over “tweetmeme” as a logical brand so the only thing left is …. ?”
….trying to actually build a better product instead of suing a competitor because you don’t have confidence in yourself to beat them through innovation.
“If they had of legitimately produced their own site and code – good luck to them. Put to blantly copy – its a pretty clear no, no.”
I agree, but mostly everything now days is a copy of something else… so let’s reword that “To blatantly copy/paste code is a pretty clear no,no”.
People sometimes think that just because they can view page source and grab your javascript, it’s ok to use it as they like.
Oh, there’s more. I just went with that code fro theretweet button because of the delicious irony.
Erick, the posted code is really “obvious” and thus, unlikely to be different for any “retweet”-like website. This is a non-event unless you were provided non-obvious algorithmic code that was “clearly” copied.
It is scary how many people are building their sites off of one site. What if twitter goes down? These sites and all the time, effort, and money they put into them will go with it.
That’s why I built my site so that when Twitter disappears my site will continue on its own. Of course this is not possible unless it’s a real business instead of just an extension of Twitter, but mine’s actually a real business. I really wonder what some of these startups are going to do when Twitter fails big time?
I heard the retweet guys are going around speaking in a British accent, just like the tweetmeme folks, shameless.
Heh. Good one, Perci!
Only nutjobs invest in services that rely on 100% another company.
If twitter ever goes deadpool all these companies built ontop of twitter will also go deadpool or in worse case if twitter decides to built these features into its own solution
blame techcrunch for raising everyone’s expectations so high on twitter.
what if facebook launches an app called ‘chirper’ that copies twitter? wouldn’t twitter die within 2 weeks?
What about flutr?
how about retwiit.com integrated with the Wii?
yeah ok we’ve heard from others that these people also release an infamous twitter spam machine called hummingsomthing.
the code is trivial so it’s no big deal, but it’s good to know tweetmeme is looking after their product.
let’s see how far retweet.com will go. i think tweetmeme will always be ahead in that they will always have a better algorithm..
speaking of which, tweetmeme needs to start working on their algorithm cause their frontpage contains lots of duplicates and spam
yeah why would anybody waste their time and money piggy backing off another company like twitter or facebook where the plug could be pulled at anytime in the future on them.
are both sites covering this controversy similarly?
// hrmmmm //
You can’t copyright code. It’s up to a company to protect their source and a lawsuit over a javascript button is a complete joke.
At least one reasonable voice in this crowd.
last but not least
+100 to MironLulic. You can minify and obfuscate your Javascript they didn’t and so they shouldn’t even complain! Internet is full of websites clones and this shouldn’t cause lawsuits, especially in America where there are too many useless lawsuit as it is.
what about:
LET THE BEST ONE WIN AND STOP WHINING??
p.s. my website like any successful one out there has received many cloning attempt.
*points out that mashable and techcrunch often take each others articles and change a few words*
LOL. Good one Samuel.
So who is copying from who??
wait, doesn’t the retweet logo have TM on it? had they already trademarked it? before Twitter? hence, they seem more legit than any other retweeting service, do they?
inserting a TM sign doesn’t mean much. will be hard to trademark retweet due to similarity with tweet, and the fact that they refer to the exact same sector/product.
now watch me trademark: Elections2012™
The “TM” doesn’t mean it has been officially trade mark and is often used to show that it is their brand and they consider it to be their trade name etc and that they probably will defend it.
I am not a coder, but isn’t that kind of script generic? Is there intellectual property for something so basic?
I never heard about reTweet til now, so I’d say the guy from Tweetmeme is giving reTweet some good exposure.
Suing is almost always an overreaction and bad idea in retrospect..
Script could be generic but it’s a copy/paste from competitors web site since it uses competitors name for variables.
Think of it in terms of music:
1. Group A releases a song that becomes a hit.
2. Another group wants to be a hit too, so they simply take group A’s song and pretend it’s theirs.
Sounds ridiculous? This case sounds just like that to a technical person.
Not quite. Music can be copyrighted. Code cannot. If they had been issued a patent they might have a case – but it’s barely a proprietary invention and wouldn’t be approved.
Why can music be copyrighted but not code?
Common law precedent.
It’s actually very simple to explain. The code described as “copied” in this post is actually common and obvious. Essentially, this means you can expect similar or exact matches in all cases where is type of functionality is desired. This case, based on this article, is defensive and frivolous.
That’s the name of the game. You make a good product, you will have many impersonators. Unfortunately the way javascript is executed, it is open for anyone to see and copy.
Clicky (getclicky.com) has outbound link tracking as one of its features, which is done in our tracking code, which is javascript. Statcounter.com directly ripped off this code for this feature about a year ago when they released their new version. I know because I looked at it. They had changed a few things here and there but the regular expression string checking for file extensions was the *exact* same, and the logic was the exact same also.
Piwik also drives us insane, they have copied so much from Clicky I can’t stand it. They also copied this same code for outbound link tracking directly. They have recently made a big update to their traking code but the old version was suspiciously similar in many many ways to our own. Their API documentation is a direct ripoff of ours.
This is the name of the game and you just have to deal with it. In one way, yes I’m flattered. In another way, I’m steaming pissed, so I know exactly how Nick feels. However, I’m not going to sue anyone over it.
Hmm, so they did a view source and checked out your JS. What developer on the planet does not do that?
A killer domain name does ALOT when it comes to the mainstream, and sorry, retweet.com when everyone has retweet buttons has got some serious advantage over tweetmeme, where most people think meme is a person who waves their hands and does not talk.
+1. LOL
Ok, but why would someone remove their tweetmeme button and replace it with a retweet button? Why is the retweet button better? (considering it uses the same code…)
Haha… Yes!
Seriously, since when does Javascript codes are copyrighted. Ridiculous.
Only thing that’s ridiculous here is your comment.
So… Now the bunch of so called Web 2.0 people will start suing each other over Jscript… Got it.
I always thought how will it go down the tubes; here’s how. Very funny.
It’s not about technology, just like twitter isn’t about technology. Whoever has better marketing/partnerships, wins. It’s not exactly a battle between tech companies.
Copying 20 lines of JS Code != stealing technology.
Is there a limit on how many lines of code I can copy before it’s labeled as ’stealing’?
Please let me know!
Hello there !
Despite the fact that there are licenses and other fun stuff that can be associated with your code (in order to protect it or set it free), frankly, if you’d ignore all laws and international treaties when it comes to JS code, most programmers wouldn’t judge you…
Update from the trenches
Mesiab Labs responds to tweetmeme.com and techcrunch article – http://rt.nu/-m95
you mean “I”, right?
Bullshit. Read the article – you throw around keywords in your article like “open source” and “design patterns” to justify blatant plagiarism. Anyone who has any software development experience will know that you are full of shit.
You can’t actually plagiarize code distributed under the GPL Public License, Anon.
Surely these things happen all the time?, in some ways that has made the web what it is today by being able to view source, adapt etc.
Code is copied and ideas are developed and not attributed (where did the original idea for tweetmeme come from? http://clevercl...-tweetmeme.html) all the time.
If there are parts of tweetmeme are protected by patent(s) then that is a different issue and worth seeking legal advice.
In the meantime this is just a good PR opportunity to build the tweetmeme brand (especially as one “wronged”) against any new “upstarts”…
Its ironic because the ones with the case might actually be ‘retweet’ since they have now secured the domain and the trademark to that name?
Tweetmeme will have to change using ‘retweet’ in its widget. I’m a big fan of Tweetmeme and all of these tool and believe that there will continue to be more players in this space, as simply by adding that button you can increase your traffic by 10% – 20% per article.
I think if they start throwing their weight around twitter might come and take that ‘retweet’ trademark from them.
A very fitting name indeed. One is not granted a TM by simply placing those letters at the end. In fact, there is lots more to the process from which I will spare you the details. The ultimate goal is to attain the ®, and nobody has the IP on any of these Twitter-derived names at this point.
I’m surprised that the domain name and maybe a few others weren’t locked in by tweetmeme so at least the “apparent” website domain name wouldn’t be available for someone else to compete with.
Mark here, from WordPress. TweetMeme’s WordPress plugin is hosted on the WordPress.org plugin repository. By putting it there, they have agreed to make it available under a GPL-compatible license.
This means that ReTweet is completely within their rights to use that code as a basis for their plugin.
The JavaScript is a different issue, because it does not to appear in the plugin.
Goood .possible the only useful content in this page.
Man, javascript code is just viewable by view page source. Thats all. Anyone who can do “View Page Source” can take that code and modify it and use it. If you are that much concerned that your javascript code is everywhere then code it in a different way than using javascript. I thought, someone hacked their servers and stole the code. This is funny man. just because few lines of javascript code looks similar, this guy want to sue??? Funny guy. Then what you will do for standard javascript validation code, date functions code and lot more that are same across so many websites?. Get a life man.
What? MySpace is that way —–>
Suing over Javascript code, lol.
Now all we need is a #hashtagmeme site and we’ll be all set.
Twitter is lame.
Oddly, I couldn’t find anything on TweetMeme’s terms of use stating that I couldn’t use the script they sent to my browser to help me build a competing application. Nor did I find any copyright disclaimer on their JS files.
This is sorta like a soft drink company trying to sue a knockoff brand because they analyzed the drink or took best guesses from publicly available information.
That’s because its common sense.
common sense is just too much to deal with when it comes to your own creation.
i agree with william smith above…kind of undescided about the lame part.
This really is crazy, someone found a piece of javascript on some dev server and now this is the end of the world!??!
Give me break, maybe these guys wanted to see how it works, are you telling me that you have never taken a piece of Javascript code to reverse engineer it? Yeah right!
It’s not like they launched with it. Well not yet anyways.
Whoa! That’s me they are talking about there. What an interesting surprise, I am glad they are going after the protection of their intellectual property though.
Design cues and inspiration are one thing, but a blatant duplicate of code seems to be an entirely different thing. Good luck Nick Halstead!
Everyone shares and learns from previous examples of code. Nick Halstead needs to focus on improving the value of his company than advertising and blowing a nut over his competition.
Cool!
lol now they sue even for codes? what a world we live in
i love tweetmeme and backtweet retweet buttons lets see what this new buddy has got 
Great domain name!
P.S. this comment (for real?)
http://www.tech...comment-2882114
I’d have to imagine that it is, yes.
And he pointed out that the javascript code was a separate issue.
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-1
If any part of the code is plugging into WordPress core or relies on it then it is pretty much under the GPL license and is fair game.
Tweetmeme is stupid for threatening with a lawsuit.
That’s true for the WordPress plugin. The JS code mentioned does not exist in the plugin. If the JS code is their original work, then they have the copyright on that code and can license it however they like.
But also worth noting is that this code was found on a dev server. It was probably not intended for public consumption. It’s possible that they just used that code as a placeholder and were planning on implementing their own JS code before going live.
Am I the only one who thinks that re-tweeting is just content duplication? Noise basically. Some may call it spam. I’m glad when people I follow don’t re-tweet, and I try to keep RTs to a bare minimum.
There must be better ways to detect trends than RTs and (even spammier) hashtags.
that was the most retarted comment on this entire blog post! If you havent realized by now, one of the key functions of twitter is to spread infomration and especially “news”. Why do you think they added trending topics to every twitter page?
If you ask me, retweet.com is onto something big here, and tweetmeme will have been a has been. . Simply because of a brand FAIL.
Nick Halstead is a dick head without a dick.
True innovation is making something that others cannot simply copy!
Funny RT war is going on! Don’t they have anything productive to do instead of threatening
Gotta love Kevin Mesiab’s to a comment on his response:
“The code is open source, Mike. More so, it’s licensed under the GPL by Wordpress and is therefore well within our rights to use and or modify.” – http://mesiabla...e=1#comment-178
As far as I understand, that’s only legal if they released the code under the GPL and don’t mix any non-GPL code in with it, right? I know it makes little difference now because he’s said on the same comment he won’t use it, but I’m wondering if they were planning to release it under the GPL or not. If not, I have to question their ethics, or at least the education of their developers.