Ownership of forum posts -- again...

Hello...

I have read with keen interest the threads on here about who owns the content of posts in forums, but did not find any relevent answers. I've found myself in a situation where I am going to request my posts be removed from a website. There are over 600 posts.

It's a long story, but the short version is I used to be a moderator there and now I am not. They banned my IP address and now have all of my contributions on their website.

Now, I am doing research and found that on one of the pages on their forums, the following text is displayed at the bottom of the page:

"The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content."

This only shows on one area of there forums. Their "rules" do not state anything about the ownership of posts otherwise.

Here is what I was planning on doing...first, I will send a registered (certified?) letter demanding removal of all posts under the specified username within three days of receipt of the letter. I have no reason to beleve they will comply, so next I was going to contact their webhosting service and demand same from them.

I know all of this is going to be limited by how much time and money I have, but am I on to a good start so far? I am going to be starting my own website and they should not have use of my posts since I am no longer on there.

Thanks for any help...

Forgot to mention also that they have a derogatory avatar under my username on their forums now. Need to get that removed also. I was amused by using Photoshop and adding the avatar picture onto his personal photos though...

So no one has any information about this??

Should I retain an attorney to send the demand letter? I'm having difficulty locating one that has his head screwed on straight. The ones I've spoken with so far either don't have time to talk to me or don't seem to want to send the demand letter. They also don't volunteer how much it's going to cost to get the demand letter sent. That's always helpful.

This is getting quite frustrating. Any constructive assistance is appreciated.

Hey, really appreciate all the help here. Thanks...I really just don't know what I would have done had I not found this site.........right.......

Where can you get advice

I don't know any of the relevant law (and I'm a moderator online myself), and I suspect no one who does has seen your post. I don't think anyone is deliberately ignoring you.

Do you know anyone who is a moderator elsewhere or someone who hosts a domain that might have experience with this? Or could refer you to a lawer who handles cases in such a new field?

Have you burnt all your bridges with the other mods on that site? It might be worth emailing them privately to see if you can come to some sort of agreement on removing your content. Also, how hard will it be to remove all your content from your forum script? Does that include archived material? How do you feel about ip logs etc etc.

I imagine you already googled every conceivable resource, but heres a couple that might be good leads or generate good contacts.

http://www.ilpf.org/

http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/internet.html

I have a question on this topic that is oriented a bit differently.

Hypothetical: I am the owner of a forum-based website, and have been asked to make the archives of the forum avaolable to the public on a CD. A few members of teh site get upset, saying that they own what they posted, and that I have no right to put it on a cd.

My argument is that by posting on a forum owned by me, they forfeit any right to control those posts. I alone may censor posts, and am the de facto owner of any non-copyrighted information once it is posted on my website.

I contend that storing the database containing the posts on CD is not fundamentally altering the manner in which it is posted. I am simply choosing a different manner of archiving the database. The information is availabe to the public through the forum just as easily as it is if provided on a CD.

If you believe that I must get approval from every member before I make the CD avaliable, then would I likewise have to gain affirmative permission should I move the information to a different server?

I Have Had Similar Problems . . .

. . . .with the little dictators that own Internet forums, the ones where you have to give up your civil rights to post on them.

I have also had Internet forums posts used against me in a court of law.

The topic raises a ton of questions.

How is that an Internet forum owner can claim ownership of posts via copyright laws, but deny culpability for the legal consequences of public display of the posts, which that owner had control over?

How can one claim ownership of something, yet not be liable for damages caused by it?

How can an attorney use posts made on an Internet forum in a court of law, without asking permission from the owner of the forum, the person who claims copyright? And, if an attorney asks permission, and the website owner grants it, and doing so causes damage to someone, would the website owner not be culpable.

Various recent rulings seem to be heading down the path that a website owner, ISP, etc., does have culpability for illegal actions conducted via a website or ISP, as in recent child pornography cases, and the recent Missouri MySpace case involving the mother of a jealous teenage cheerleader who posed as a high school student, and who's posts led another high school girl to commit suicide.

Missouri altered their laws to include cyber crime, making harassment via the Internet illegal in Missouri, thus greatly expanding the jurisdiction of Missouri law.

PS: I don't come here very often, so just stumbled onto this thread.

In short, this issue should be dealt with in the Terms of Use on the site. It sounds to me like the site is clearly stating - at least on the bottom of every page - that they don't own the posts and want to disclaim liability (or at least say that they don't sanction any opinions made by a poster.) As such, the forum would seem to have a limited right to use the post and it may not even matter what gibberish they may have in their Terms of Use which they may have copied from another site. Why not make a demand to take down your posts? I'd be interested in hearing what they'd have to say other than "OK."

I have had some very unpleasant real-life experiences with this. I have been sitting on the witness stand in a court of law when the attorney for my opponent, a person my wife and I were attempting to get a restraining order against, started presenting posts I had made on an Internet forum blogging the situation.

That site owner had warned me of suspicious snooping from my area, after psycho cyber stalker using that site had put them onto the blog. That site owner had pulled the blog, but they had not given permission to anyone to use posts for their own gain, and they do claim copyright.

After that experience, I asked the owner of another similar forum to remove some of my posts because they could possibly be detrimental to someone involved in a probate battle. That site owner would not remove my own posts, claiming copyright. That site owner has also chastised me for reposting my own posts elsewhere.

The Internet is a dangerous place, full of crazies, and just how dangerous, and to whom, is being determined on a case-by-case basis.

I was just talking about this issue on a forum a few minutes ago, saying the safest thing regarding posting on the Internet is to not do it (advice I obviously do not follow.)

The safest way to avoid getting into an accident is not leaving your home. But this isn't practical nor desireable. Everything in life is about finding the proper center and the best way to conduct yourself online is to be careful and read before you agree and write. I'm not sure what led to your situation but it is unusual and, if the posts could be dangerous to someone else, you should think about whether there is truly a compelling need to share the information and potentially cause trouble.

Yup.

Things in life are a learning experience. Since the Internet is still evolving, it is a learning experience for all who use it.

You can learn from your own experience or from others, and since mine was unpleasant, that is why I share, so that others do not have to learn from the same bad experience.

Those involved with the Internet, especially sites where you share with others, seem naive to the dangers, despite repeated warnings.