Query: Copyright?
 

Hope this is the right place to post this, it certainly seems to be the best bet!

Like many people over the last few weeks, I've felt the need to review the TOS carefully, lest I unwittingly find myself on the wrong side of it :(

From that point of view, it all looks OK, and I'm pretty happy with the conduct side of it, however I did notice something thats new to me...

When I signed up, the TOS made it clear that FT/IF claimed copyright on everything posted on FT. I've noticed that the current version of the TOS does not have this restriction (nor does the actual click-through agreement, I did a quick trial to check that).

I know from various postings over the years that some posters have been concerned about the implications of the copyright restrictions, especially where things like trip reports have evolved from one-off postings to novel-sized works that are probably wary of booker prize nominantion. Whilst the policy has never affected me directly, I must admit it has made me think twice about posting some things, especially as I have previously been both a programmer and a (paid) magazine columnist, and so I'm painfully aware that some people make their living from what they write.

So, what is the current FT position on copyright and reproduction? If it's changed since I signed up, which policy applies to me?

Can I now retain copyright to things I post on FT? (i.e. could I later use the material elsewhere, at my discretion?)

Can I control reproduction of my postings by 3rd parties?

Can I veto reproduction of my postings by FT? (Not that I'd want to, you understand, I'm just trying to understand where the boundaries lie here...)

All opinions greatfully received - an authoratative opinion (i.e. from someone at FT) would be very much appreciated!

Ken.

Willard the Bear - And I don't want to find myself plastered all over some airlines' promotional material without so much as a "by your leave", after all, a bear has to keep his objectivity!

Isn't this the relevant section?

User's Grant of Limited License

While members own the content and interest in their posts, posting on FlyerTalk grants FlyerTalk and its subsidiaries the right to reproduce the content in any medium without notification or compensation. Members' posts cannot be printed or duplicated in any way by a third party without the consent of the authors. Once you submit a post, FlyerTalk has no obligation to remove or edit that post's content.

Thanks, couldn't find it for looking, obviously!

This definitely represents a change from the previous policy - my question on which policy applies to me still stands I guess, however, I'd still want to stress that my interest is primarily academic!

Ken.

This is a more appropriate question for our kind host Randy Petersen.

Of course, he is working hard on the Freddies.

So, I am going to transfer this over to the ORP forum... but am locking it until Randy can take time to answer your question.

William