Hi there guys

I having had some problems with people stealing conversations from my chat site, i am just wondering what are the legal issues involved here, as i know your not allowed to publish msn conversations legally without permission of both parties.

Since the conversations and forum posts are on my site, i pressume they belong to me, is this correct ? so if anyone wants to use any of the conversations, they would need my permission, or permission of the users involved in teh coversation, is my logic correct ?

Does webmaster talk own the posts on this site ?

Woc

Do you make your users agree to a "terms and conditions" statement before joining?

If not, you may have a hard fight, especially regarding uncompensated content created by the users.

Originally Posted by willcode4beer

Do you make your users agree to a "terms and conditions" statement before joining?

If not, you may have a hard fight, especially regarding uncompensated content created by the users.

Even the terms and conditions might not help, depending who took it, for example if I was a first time visitor to this forum I could copy/paste or screenshot this thread without ever registering.

it kind of depends on what exactly is being copied. if you write an article and i copy it, thats not legal unless i get permission to repost the info or i credit the source. if its just general conversation submitted or entered by users then i believe it's in the public domain, meaning anybody can use it for anything.

i would need exact details of what is being copied and where it is being published to give a more accurate legal evaluation

Hi guys

Thanks for the comments, it seems that the solution isnt clear to the issue, someone been stealing conversations for malicious purposes, trying to discredit my website really i just wondered what the legal standpoint is, i know it would be v difficult to get any legal action taken, but was just wondering where i would stand if anything like this happened in the future.

Woc