Unfortunately this is quite common. Much of my carefully researched data has been plagiarized but even worse I have shared areas still under investigation with people I though trustworthy, like "I think Mary Ann may be the daughter of John & Margaret but I'm still attempting to document this", on the basis that multiple people searching stood a better chance of finding the documentation. Some of that shared data has now appeared on the IGI as a member submitted relationship and the people concerned posthumously baptized into the LDS church. Now for those not aware of the perils of 'member submissions' these unconfirmed relationships appear in searches on Familysearch.org. As a consequence I have pulled my personal web site and advised those I still communicate with to not publish our findings and be extremely selective about who you share what with! These I am attempting to keep within a very select group. MickG -----Original Message----- From: eng-hereford-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:eng-hereford-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of David Matthews Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 6:42 AM To: Herefordshire Mailing List Subject: [HEF] Advice please - publication of plagiarised tree - GREENLY ofHerefordshire This is slightly off topic but as this relates to a Herefordshire research, I thought it appropriate to seek advice here. I recently decided that it was time to publish one of my family trees to ensure that the information that I have gathered over the last decade was made more widely available. The tree in question covers my maternal ancestors - the GREENLY family of Herefordshire - and dates back all the way to the 15thC and runs to the present day with over 600 individuals catalogued (with perhaps a further 300 still to add). It is supported by many thousands of hours of research and several shelves full of supporting documentation. Upon uploading the GEDCOM to Ancestry yesterday, I discovered that my tree has already been published by someone in the USA claiming it as their own work. I had assisted this individual a few months ago, sending them a copy of the GEDCOM to enable them to check for intersections with their own line. Needless to say, I had not been asked whether my work could be published and no credit is given to me. In fact, the tree in question consists of over 3000 individuals and appears to be a conglomeration of the work of several serious and committed researchers (at least one other tree included is well known to me and is the work of an excellent and scholarly genealogist in California with whom I have corresponded for several years). Quite apart from the mindless audacity of the publication, those who have used Ancestry to publish trees will know that the software now offers 'hints' where other information in the Ancestry database appears to match the data in your tree. As a result of the publication of the plagiarised data therefore, I now get a 'hint' for every single individual in my tree, making it impossible to distinguish genuine matches which may advance my research. In frustration, I have therefore decided to delete my tree from Ancestry rather than add the source citations and background that would have created such a rich family and social history. The status quo therefore is that the data is in the public domain but the 'author' has not one useful scrap of knowledge to support the work and anyone enquiring about, or challenging the information will be met with blissful ignorance. Has anyone had any similar experiences? Does anyone know whether Ancestry would do anything about plagiarism which only serves to undermine the whole purpose of publication? Thanks in advance, David Matthews ---- ENG-HEREFORD Mailing List ---- A genealogy and local history list covering the County of Hereford ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-HEREFORD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.138 / Virus Database: 270.6.7/1631 - Release Date: 8/24/2008 12:15 PM