Do I own this thread or does the Chicago Reader own this thread?
My EBSWAG (Educated-But-Still-WAG) is that, if you’re asking about the thread as a whole, the Reader owns the rights to each of the individual posts. You still own the copyright to each of your posts inasmuch as you own the copyright to anything you write, but by posting it to these boards, you give the Reader permission to do with it as they see fit. Reproducing any post or entire thread anywhere other than here would constitute a violation of copyright, but you’re free to copy and paste your own posts and paraphrase those of others.
At least, that’s how I understand it. I’m sure someone with some actual knowledge (perhaps a mod or an admin) will be along shortly.
Ummm, this is the small print at the bottom of this very page:
So we’ve established who has the right to do stuff with it. Both I, and the Chicago Reader.
But who owns it? Who does it belong to?
I knew I’d seen it somewhere! :smack: 
Well, that would depend on what you mean by “own”. Because the SDMB isn’t a physical object, ownership and right of usage aren’t terribly different from one another. The Reader owns the thread in that it’s hosted on their servers, and is part of a service (the SDMB) to which they hold the ownership and rights. So if anybody “owns” the thread, it’d be them. “Own”, however, is difficult to quantify in this situation. If you have a specific definition in mind that extends beyond right of usage, please explain.
Nobody ‘owns’ it. It isn’t a physical item. It’s a collection and presentation of data, recreated every time somebody views the thread, and drawn from a database maintained by the Chicago Reader. The entries in the database are what have rights and ownership, which are deisgned to give the Reader the ability to recreate the entries in threads, as and when requested by readers.
I recently saw a post from someone claiming that there is nothing other than the physical. In respect to threads and posts I believe it. If you go deep enough a thread is physical. All data is either physical or imaginary (still physical within our brains) Since we can see this thread it is not imaginary so it is physical.
And if that is the case then I suppose the Chicago Reader owns the thread entirely as they own the electricity and hardware that are the physical nature of this thread.
There’s a copy cached on my PC, who own’s that? The point is that intellectual property isn’t owned in any physical sense, so it’s pointless to say so. The Reader has a copy, so does everyone who reads the thread. But the right to do something with that intellectual property is the only interesting part.
:: Plants flag in ground ::
I’m sorry, but I’ve already claimed this thread in the name of Spain.
The spool originally owned the thread, but the needle claims that ownership was transferred to it a while back. The thimble placed a lien on it, and there was no actual contract drawn up between the spool and the needle, so I guess the thread legally belongs to the thimble.
Well, let’s see. The CR can close the thread, edit it, and has discretion over what’s posted in it. You can post to it, provided you follow all the rules laid down by the Reader.
Guess what? They own it.
Brilliant, lol.
I can’t get on board with this. Software isn’t a physical item either, do software writers not own their work?
Now the thread issue, I agree with Finagle.
It’s straighforward. My understanding is;
I own this post. It’s mine. Each poster named here owns their posts.
The SDMB, however, owns the thread. The arrangement of all the posts here by forum, thread and date, the logical attachment that makes the thread what it is, is its property.
The SDMB is in turn owned by the Chicago Reader.
The Chicago Reader also has full rights to reproduced all posts within the thread without any compensation to their owners. But they don’t own them.
The thread itself is a classic example of intellectual property – and title to the posts in it is shared by the Chicago Reader and the individual posters, according to the Terms of Service here. “Copyright” does not refer exclusively to the right to copy, but the right of ownership to intellectual property.
In terms of the physical composition, the thread resides on a server owned by the Chicago Reader, and is retrieved using VBB software licensed by the Reader from Jelsoft, and displayed on the computer which you (or in some cases your family) own. The electrons which cause it to be so displayed are the property of your local electric-power utility, for the use of which you pay them a monthly fee based on the quantity used. Most theists are convinced that God has ultimate title to the whole shebang. Elizabeth II, dei gratia Regina, and her Government, acting in her capacity as Laird of Man, maintain the rarely-exercised right to place any and all of the above into government service to meet the needs of the nation, regarding the end of the transaction you regard as “yours,” as do the State of Illinois and the United States of America regarding the Reader’s property. Folks such as the “Duke of Albany” maintain a claim to all of this stuff which is not legally recognized by anyone. And, of course, the property rights of the superintelligent giant squids need to be taken into account!
I think that might cover the waterfront here, as regards “ownership.” What have I missed?
All your posts belong to me?
I claim this thread in the name of Mars.
All your posts are belong to us.
I pwn this thread!