Derek, even though I was the one who asked the question... in my opinion I don't believe its ripping off the design. If I designed the layout from scratch but created a different "feel" for it, I don't believe it could be considered ripping the template off.

The fact of the matter is that any website designer could say that it is hard to be creative in making a template, thats why I know lots of them instead look at templates and as Sulcalibur said, take bits and pieces off every template they look at and construct their own. If this was considered ripping off I would think that a major part of the template industry would fall apart in my opinion.

Either way, just my .02 cents... but I do appreciate your comments.