Saturday Deep Dive: Did someone rip off my story/gag?

Today's dive into the deeper archive of Webcomics.com takes us aaaallllll the way back to Aug. 17, 2011, when I discussed different ways to handle a situation in which you feel your creative property has been borrowed.

Q.: I have been making comics for about five years and I've run into a problem that I imagine most cartoonist's struggle with: Realizing that your idea, may in fact, have already been done on The Simpsons. Or Penny Arcade. Or Achewood. Or Somewhere else.

Recently, I went through my entire archives and noticed that there were handful of comics with themes or punchlines similar to other creator's work. I would never purposely plagiarize anyone's content; however, subconsciously something must have slipped through the cracks. Ultimately, I became somewhat obsessed and end up redoing the "problem" comics in my archives because I felt really, REALLY uncomfortable with them. I've seen my work get ripped off before, ranging from general ideas all the way to stolen punchlines word for word (I have four or five thousand readers, so I assume this is normal?)

Just curious how a creator handles two problems

1. What do you do when you look back and realize you've accidentally appropriate someone's idea?
2. What do you do when others rip you off?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and I'd like to suggest this topic for a WW podcast, since I think it's a common problem for cartoonists.

Thanks!

Read the entire post and comment there.