On 22 Dec 2004, Nathaniel Poor wrote:

I think no one has mentioned copyrights because in the US, as I understand it (IANAL, but I am a citizen), anything written down is copyrighted.

So, for instance, all usenet posts... oh, international issues...

In the US, *in theory*, we have the lovely "fair use" clause which allows

copying for scholarly use, commentary, etc.

The more relevant rule is that in the U.S., you can't enforce your copyright without registering it, and if you don't register it promptly, you can only recover actual damages in a lawsuit. Probably no one is going to bother registering USENET posts, certainly not routinely. If someone wants to sue for copying of USENET posts, s/he will likely be limited to actual damages. There is to my knowledge no real market for USENET posts, so the damages are likely to be nil, certainly not worth the cost of suit. The pragmatic effect is that the probability of getting sued, let alone accumulating any substantial liability, for copying USENET posts is miniscule. You might get enjoined, I suppose, but that's about it. Note that these slightly goofy U.S. rules don't necessarily apply elsewhere in the world. Dan L. Burk Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly Professor University of Minnesota Law School 229 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA *************************************** Voice: 612-626-8726 Fax: 612-625-2011 bits: burkx006@umn.edu