Joan, I know. Sometimes you can find the original source and sometimes you can't. When one file comes out exactly like the next, poor spelling, bad alignment and all, and then another and another exactly the same, you do know it's happening. You just can't complain, and it's not up to anyone but the original author to complain anyway. I've found some of my own writing on the web. Unfortunately I had made a mistake in one -- I never could get that mother and daughter straight -- I always mixed up their names. I didn't complain and I figured out how it happened. I had emailed someone with some information just to personally share and it showed up without my name in a family file. Then it procreated. I'm glad my name didn't show up that time. I was sent an entire family file once from someone who reluctantly shared their research with me. It was mine word for word. I have no clue where they got it. I know they didn't get it from me, don't remember sending it to anyone, and I sure did notice my writing could use some improvement. Debbie Debbie- I'm not sure how you can accurately pinpoint copyright infringement in a file if you are not the copyright holder. I say this because I know I have personally granted permission for some other researchers to include my data with attribution in their files. If you are seeing files that don't give attribution to another person or database as the source--how can you tell who the copyright holder is? It is often difficult to determine who first posted the information and who researched it unless you find copyright material of your own in someone else's file. I do know that RootsWeb most likely wouldn't take action for reported infringement unless the complaint came from the copyright holder himself. Joan ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour