Evite threatens to sue Socializr for copyright infringement

Ticketmaster, owner of the popular invitation service Evite, has threatened to sue Socializr for copyright infringement, saying the company’s service looks strikingly and confusingly similar to Evite’s.

In a letter sent April 3, Ticketmaster’s law firm, Quinn Emanuel, said two invitation design templates offered by San Francisco start-up Socializr were exact copies of Evite’s, and another design is very similar. See letter here. The letter also said Socializr’s invitation event creation page, design galleries and guest list options menu were all strikingly and confusingly similar in format, layout and features to Evite’s pages, and demanded they be taken down.

Socializer seems to have pulled down the two exact template copies — the “Holiday” and “Hawaii Luau” designs — but has left up its “Winter Celebration” template (left in image), which looks similar to Evite’s “Winter Hues” (right in image). Quinn Emanuel lawyer Michael Carlinsky said Socializr’s response has not been enough to resolve the issue, even though Socializr has agreed to make certain changes. “Other issues are still being examined,” he said, saying the complaint is about more than specific templates. Socializr has not yet responded to a request for comment.