I think Douglas Winship may have misunderstood the AOL agreement, thinking
that AOL is claiming copyright of anything put on AOL. It is claiming the
right to USE that content for itself and its members royalty-free, EVEN THOUGH
the poster/owner may hold copyright to it.  It certainly forges new ground in
the listworld, but I think it is a positive attempt to guarantee copyright
protection and free use of info on the Net at the same time. That's possibly
impossible, but that's what it looks like.  Think of the newspapers (not just
discussion lists) that are posted on AOL. Clearly they retain their copyrights;
but AOL is trying to protect its users who may "clip and copy" into some dis-
cussion and thereby broadcast copyrighted material worldwide.  That's my read
of it.
     Cindy H-G
 
Dr. Lucinda Hart-Gonzalez   (speaking for herself and not her agency)
Foreign Service Institute
National Foreign Affairs Training Center
U.S. Department of State
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