ODP - Just Coincidence?

[Puzzled]

This could just be coincidence but it is starting to get a bit tiresome. I have a website listed in the ODP and like to see other websites with a similar theme. The last two websites that have been added to the category above(One last month, one today) have both used copies of the information from my website, of course I have taken action to have the owners of these sites remove my work. I realize that the ODP editors are volunteers and probably missed this but I can't help but feel something could be done to avoid this situation. Has this happened to anyone else?

[Laisha]

>...I can't help but feel something could be done to avoid this situation.

Like what? I have tried for some time now to come up with a solution to this kind of stuff -- and not just regarding ODP.

[henki]

You could search for stolen copy with this nefty little search engine: www.findsame.com

[Laisha]

>You could search for stolen copy with this nefty little search engine: www.findsame.com

Oh, I don't mean finding copies. I mean finding out which is the original?

Having been recently plagiarized, I have first-hand experience with what is known as "reverse confusion," which is when a well-known "author" steals from a lesser-known one and the assumption is made that the well-known thief was the originator of the information.

This could be a problem in ODP as well. How would an editor ascertain which is the "real" deal? The correct answer is that s/he cannot.

In essence, what editors have to do is allow the copyright battle to be fought and won, and in that case, the thief's site is (presumably) no longer a copy.

[Brett_Tabke]

Puzzled, welcome to the board.

You do mean they copied your web pages? (not just the odp description - correct?)

[Puzzled]

Thanks for all of your replies, sorry for my delay. Yes, this is in relation to information on my web pages, not the ODP description.
I understand that it is not the editors job to decide who has copied who as this could cause even bigger problems. I guess the only solution is to have the work removed from the offending websites.