Index: trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/plugins/Plugin.java
===================================================================
--- trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/plugins/Plugin.java	(revision 5240)
+++ trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/plugins/Plugin.java	(revision 5241)
@@ -7,4 +7,6 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.net.URLClassLoader;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -117,3 +119,24 @@
         out.close();
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Get a class loader for loading resources from the plugin jar.
+     *
+     * This can be used to avoid getting a file from another plugin that
+     * happens to have a file with the same file name and path.
+     *
+     * Usage: Instead of
+     *   getClass().getResource("/resources/pluginProperties.properties");
+     * write
+     *   getPluginResourceClassLoader().getResource("resources/pluginProperties.properties");
+     *
+     * (Note the missing leading "/".)
+     */
+    public ClassLoader getPluginResourceClassLoader() {
+        File pluginDir = Main.pref.getPluginsDirectory();
+        File pluginJar = new File(pluginDir, info.name + ".jar");
+        URL pluginJarUrl = PluginInformation.fileToURL(pluginJar);
+        URLClassLoader pluginClassLoader = new URLClassLoader(new URL[] { pluginJarUrl } , Main.class.getClassLoader());
+        return pluginClassLoader;
+    }
 }