On Sun, 14 Apr 2002 13:19:45 -0700, Liz Marr <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >In today's litigious society (or at least the >United States society), it would be nice to know just where things stand in >these issues. I'm not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV. The real problem with copyright issues with regard to various electronic forums (emial lists, Usenet Newsgroups, 'chat' rooms, etc.) is that there is very little actual case law that applies to these new methods of communication. In general, every person who posts a message to a list, forum, etc. owns the copyright on their own expression (message). The mere act of posting necessarily releases that to the 'public'. The List-Owner also may claim a 'compilation' copyright on the sum total of messages arranged in the particular manner of how the messages were posted to the list. Beyond that things get very complicated, very fast.