Who owns the posts?

[Greg]

In regards to copyright...let's say I have © 2000 Foo, Inc. at the bottom of every page, and some wise-ass decides to put © 2000 FooUser in his signature, who really owns the copyright on the post?

Just a little triviality. ;)

[Martin]

Copyright law for forums is rather tricky. By publishing on your site, they don't necessarily give up rights, but they do sort of grant you license.

I tell all my users (I have a poetry section) that they own the things they publish but I reserve the right to use them elsewhere on the site.

[Menno]

Yes, I believe that as long as the creator is giving credit, you can use stuff from the BB on the rest of your site.

[Chris Schreiber]

Anyone who writes something is given an automatic copyright to thier own work (they don't even need to specify it). However, in your bullein board rules, you should have something that states all posts are for public viewing (yeah I know this is implied... but it helps to cover you rear-end). If this is the case, then you are allowed to quote any posts on your board as long as the author is given credit for the work.

-Chris