Copyright - "Is it just me? Have I missed something?&qu

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I just registered here yesterday. I have browsed a bit (more than I planned to - it's an interesting site, and there's a lot of it!), and I was planning to lurk for a few weeks, before posting anything.

I don't know if I'm an Aspie (although people on the Net, at least, including Aspies, keep telling me I am, and I seem to meet the DSM-IV criteria - just about), but something strikes a chord with me here, and it seems important, so I want to take this slowly, and do it right. (Almost like it's a solemn occasion, or something. Which perhaps it is.)

In particular, I thought I should read the Terms and Conditions. (That's a very Aspie thing to do, isn't it?)

I thought that would just be a formality, because, in my 19 years on the Internet (I'm 59 years old, by the way, I live in the UK, and I'm undiagnosed, with just a single mention of "elements of personality traits and Asperger's syndrome", in one of several NHS psychiatrists' letters to my GP), I have never had any reason to object to the T & C of any website that I have used.

I was absolutely gobsmacked, therefore, to read this (forgive me for quoting it almost in full!):

"Rights
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WrongPlanet[...] reserves full rights to information and content posted anywhere within the wrongplanet[...] domain by any of its visitors, members, and staff. [...] Any and all information posted on WrongPlanet[...] may not be copied or used elsewhere, in any way, shape, or form, either on the Internet or in print without express written consent of an owner of WrongPlanet[...].

Enforcement of Copyright
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WrongPlanet will enforce its copyright. If we become aware of a user's violation of the copyright, a note will be sent to that user requesting the user to remove the infringement from that individual's or company's website or other place of publication. If the user or organization does not comply with this request, access to WrongPlanet may be revoked and WrongPlanet may send the infringing individual or organization a desist letter. If the individual or organization does not comply with the cease and desist letter, we will consider taking legal action."

As it says in the FAQ:

"Am I slow? Is it just me? Have I missed something? Who should I ask?"

The T & C seem to be written in plain English, not legalese, and, although I've had a poor night's sleep, and am therefore not at my sharpest at the moment, I don't feel particularly sleepy or confused. (The "General Error" in my first attempt to post, however, might suggest otherwise!)

To my (possibly sleepy and confused!) eyes, it looks exactly as if the T & C are saying that if I write anything here in WP, about my own life, in my own words, and if I then quote those same words, of my own, in some other context (as I have every moral right to do - whatever any T & Cs might say, and whatever the laws of any jurisdiction might say), I will be found to be in breach of copyright, and pursued through the courts!

Say it ain't so!

Has the world gone mad, or have I?

As far as I'm aware nobody has ever been pursued for quoting their own posts elsewhere and I've never interpreted the T&C that way. I think there would be an issue however if you set up another site and pulled everyone else's posts out from here and put them on your own site.

One thing that people sometimes trip people over is that once they have made a post they have up to 7 days in which time they can edit/delete it, after that they no longer have access to those posts. This means that if a member leaves they are unable to demand that all their posts are deleted and they remain public. Thus it is always wise not to give away too much personal information of say anything that could subsequently cause embarrassment in real life; similarly it is best if people don't use their real name as their member name as a simple Google search will include their posts on this site.

That boat has sailed, I'm afraid.

Still, at least I'm not using my real name now.

(I usually call myself "Chimera" these days, but that user name has already been taken at WP, not by me, but by someone who only posted once, in 2004.)

Thanks for the reassurance about the T & C, although the possibility of a strict interpretation (again Aspie?) still worries me.