Poster: Bob Kosovsky <[log in to unmask]> >Perhaps the "tradition of the Internet" has been to widely repost messages. >But that has little effect on their copyright status. Having seen a number of Title 17 makes it specific, as I recall, that medium is irrelevant -- a copyright book is no less copyright for being on a diskette than it is as a printed work. And letters are copyright to the authors thereof, which makes for quite a potential hassle for biographers. Ergo, I rather suspect the law would stand behind anyone who claimed that an e-mail message was copyright to the person who composed / sent it. The "tradition" may be the de facto situation -- and good luck to you trying to press a breach of copyright suit should someone forward your e-mail messages without your express permission! -- but I'm positive it's not de jure. Mario Rups [log in to unmask]