What starts as a copy dies as a copy

If you open these two websites, what do you see?

https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/@useshortcut/mcp-server-shortcut

https://lobehub.com/mcp/useshortcut-mcp-server-shortcut

Unfortunately, both look more or less the same. At least in terms of their structure, copy, data primitives, features, and content. The differences are mostly in how they were styled.

Except one took a year of constant iteration based on hundreds of conversations with users, and the other one appeared overnight.

I only share one screenshot because I don't want to give them more attention, but the pattern of carbon copy runs throughout the product.

Nothing is born out of nothing

Every original thought we've ever had is some combination of our past experiences. I think that's beautiful and also what drives the constant evolution of art, design, and everything around us. However, if you are just making a carbon copy of someone else's work and using that to profit, that's just plagiarism.

Reflection

I don't have a specific agenda for this article, nor do I have the answer to the very question posed in the title. In many ways, I just wanted to pause from building the product and reflect on what happened.

When I first became aware of someone copying my work pixel by pixel, I chose to ignore it. But it became something I kept thinking about in the back of my head as I was designing new features.

I think to myself: Will what I build get copied again? Will I ever get credit for what I do? Does it matter? Is it healthy for me to ignore it? I don't know, but I choose to believe that dwelling on it is a distraction.

What starts as a copy dies as a copy

Here is something I firmly believe though: A copy made without going through the same decision trees, failed experiments, user conversations, and relationships that were built through those iterations—it's just that. A copy of a point-in-time achievement of someone else.

The owner of the copy doesn't have the context of what led to those outcomes, or the backlog that was behind every decision. Their only recourse becomes to constantly leech on someone else's work to survive. It is not a worthy or aspirational endeavor, and one that I would not wish onto anyone.

Self-actualization can mean many things to different people, but I choose to believe that as creators working on passion projects, the true actualization comes from a deep belief in your own personal achievements as measured by mastery of craft and creation of value to others.

We are all very fortunate to be living through the times of rapid evolution (AI, robotics). There is ample of opportunity for self-actualization, and that's what I wish to everyone.

What I'm doing about it

Write this article to compose my thoughts
File DMCA with Cloudflare and GitHub
Get back to building the product

If you are in a similar situation, my research led me to believe that filing DMCA is the healthy amount of legal recourse, and the rest is a distraction.

Moving forward

We are all very fortunate to be living through times of rapid evolution – AI, robotics, and beyond. There is ample opportunity for self-actualization through genuine creation. That's what I wish for everyone.

Meanwhile, there are 670+ items on my TODO list. Time to get back to building.