Just wondering.. How do you ensure the work being provided is original..

I mean by biggest fear when it comes to web design is the lovely site I paided for turns out to be a rip-off of some site already on the next and the owner trys to come after me for this..

I hate to say it but im sure there are plenty of "designers" that couldn't come up with there own decent design if there life counted on it, and do nothing but rip off other sites...

Its like a good mechanic... He can rebuild a car already on the market, but odds are he wouldn't be able to design one from scratch.

What can a person do to protect themselves.

One way is to make sure your designer keeps you updated throughout the design process..look for things changing, that's a good sign the designer is experimenting and not just pretending to be making a site...

Another option would be to post progress in the review forum here or somewhere alike, chances are a lot of the time if it's a rip, it'll be noticed.