When someone copies your forum

[Beverly]

As a general chat forum owner, I would not expect to be the only forum in my niche. And, actually there are hundreds and maybe thousands of general chat forums online. But, for some more specialized forums such as those covering a specific TV show or movie or shopping niche, you would have less competition.

So it would be very noticeable if one of your members suddenly decided to open their own duplicate/copy forum. In these situations, I don't know if that would be a compliment, considering how this person is trying to cash in on your niche and possibly steal some of your forum members. What would you feel if someone on your forum decided to compete by opening a nearly identical forum as yours?

 

[Migi]

That is seriously annoying, of course. Copying is a very not creative act and it steps on our own effort to make the forum/website as unique and personal as it can be. If it were me, I would try to talk to the administrator of the copying website and see if we can change few things. If not, well, from experience the copycats never succeed anyway.

 

[Forces of Steel]

If you're the type of person unable to come up with anything interesting or creative on your own, then a lot of your members will pick up on your phoniness. Being able to easily generate in-depth discussions is all that really matters.

 

[Soapbox]

Very annoying. Get protected and trademarked where you can, though this is an investment to be sure. Even when people copy you - if your forum is doing well & providing a great survive, they will likely not get away with it. You will be known to be the original by your supporters, which could even lead to added credibility.