Forum Moderators: not2easy
My first guess is that neither letters to the editor nor forum posts are in the public domain. For example, posts to this forum are owned by the poster (see below, in the footer), so you would need to get the permission of the poster to copy the content.
In the case of newspapers, I believe that ownership lies with the newspaper, although I might be wrong about this. In any case, I would check the terms of service on any websites that you want to use content from to make sure you're in the clear.
You could also try writing the poster/letter writer to see if you could get permission to use the posts you like. Since it appears that your business is not going to compete with the original source, you might easily get it.
Good luck in your venture.
There might be some newspapers that actually get copyright to the letters they print. Transfer of copyright needs to be done in writing, signed (physically, on paper) by the copyright holder. There are some publications that will contact the writers of the material they decide to print and ask them to transfer copyright. There should be a notice on the Letters to the Editor page stating whether the author or the newspaper owns the copyright.
As soon as something is put into a "fixed form" (which includes being published on the web), it's automatically copyrighted. So unless something specifically says it's in the public domain, assume that it's copyrighted.
But as jonrichd said, for a project like yours, I'd think many people would be willing to give you permission to use their material. Just be sure to follow any conditions they give you for use (acknowledgement, link to their site, etc.)
Sherm
Does this give the forum owner absoulte publishing rights to posts people make on an open free forum?
Even to the point of taking that information you've written in this free forum just now and charging access to view it several years later?
your statement;
"Because copyright (at least in the U.S.) is fairly difficult to actually transfer to someone else, the author of a post is almost always the copyright holder. "
If your still saying a soft copywrite would be difficult to transfere ownership, would the tos be enough of a soft permit to allow the forum owner to charge to view the posts you made on a free forum primarily?
Should the owner of the website be allowed to take the posts submitted on a open free forum and move them to a pay view only, no access by the poster or anyone unless that person paid the membership fee.
the tos here states;
"When a message is placed in any forum system, you are granting a soft license to the site to use it."
or if the tos says;
"All posts become the property of said forum at the time of posting."
sounds like all posts are now owned by this forum and they can sell or do basically what they want to with your posts.
"Transfer of copyright needs to be done in writing, signed (physically, on paper) by the copyright holder."
Would you object to the right of this or any forum to use your posts at "any" time for profit
Thank you
aj
