Community Content Ownership
For more than 20 years the topic of who owns and/or can use the content created by online communities. Over years of participating in and leading communities, I have come to believe that the authors of the postings, not the “community”, own their own postings, although I believe the community has the right to retain for its private archives all the discussions that transpire in the community space. Do moderators have a right to retain or delete whatever they choose without consulting the community? Who does own the individual messages posted to a community discussion board? Are forums nothing more than a conversation between members that anyone can use/reuse freely? It’s still a hotly debated topic, and community members should take care to read the terms of use statements on any web site before they start posting!