Kailash@kail_designs
A YC Company knocked off and stole my work 1:1.
And this could happen to you next. Here's what happened 👇
2 days back @21st_dev launched an ASCII tool which was completely a ripoff of ascii-magic.com
Everything from properties, effects, features, presets and even backgrounds were literally scraped off and used exactly.
When I called out this mess, the founder got his ego hurt and unfollowed me instead of addressing the blatant copying.
I'd probably not have been this upset if it was a solo designer trying to learn, experiment, or make a quick buck on the side. People learn by rebuilding things all the time.
But this is a funded YC company.
A company with resources.
A company with a grown man as a founder.
A company that absolutely knew what it was doing.
And yes, before anyone jumps in to defend this, they knew exactly what they were doing. You can tell if you looked at their tool for 5 seconds.
The fact that a YC-backed company can use AI to rip off a free tool, launch it publicly, and then refuse to acknowledge or address it is seriously alarming.
Makes me think if this goes unchecked, they could (or have been doing this idk) do this to anyone in the future. So as a community, it is necessary we hold folks accountable.
Thanks,
Kailash