In a message dated 4/3/2004 8:10:55 PM Central Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: That is what I do. Subscribing to the list (subscribing to the list establishes a contract, which is different from copyright) grants right to quoting of postings on the list in replies. All use outside the list is forbidden (no forwarding to a friend, colleague, etc. "Did you see/ know/hear about this?", no forwarding to other lists, no quoting in magazines/journals/etc.) unless explicit permission is obtained from the author for the copying. I may also have some copyright for entire postings as listowner & editor, depends. Nothing may be published in a magazine, journal, newspaper, etc. without the express permission of the author and the listowner(s). Enforcement is another matter. We have a situation on my list that has just come up since this thread started: I received an email from a former list member. This particularl individual lives in Australia as well. (We are an international list with the listserv sponsor we use located in the US.) She wanted all posts of her deleted from our archives as it may cause her problems in her family court. We have perused the emails and frankly don't see anything that would be overtly damaging, but that is not our legal call to make of course. However, when I approached our listserv sponsors about the mechanics involved, we were informed it could be done by hand on a post by post basis (2 years worth of posts, mind you.) They were quite nice and offered to do this, but I hate to ask anyone to do this. We were also informed that our list could be marked as private. It has been a publically accessed list since its inception. While I would like to help this lady, I don't feel morally compelled to change the basic philosophy and structure of our list. Plus the individual deletions would leave holes in the threads that would make following things quite difficult at times. What are your thoughts on this? Thanks, Linda Newell The Myasthenic Meeting Place www.myasthenicmeeingplace.org.uk