h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

From the FAQ - "you still own the copyright to everything you contribute to h2g2".

From the BBC's terms and conditions - "you are required by such submission to grant the BBC a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicenseable right and license to... exercise all copyright and publicity rights with respect to any such work..."

Some contradiction here?

No. Here's what the quotes mean.

FAQ: You retain the copyright.

Terms: You give the BBC a *license* to exercise copyright over your material - in other words the BBC can edit, publish and sub-license your material (plus other things), but you still retain the copyright.

So no, it's spot on. You retain the copyright over your material, but you grant us permission to do various things with your material too.

Mark

Thanks, Mark. I think I follow. Isn't legalese fun?

Glad *you* think so!

Mark

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/FFM57153?thread=115820&skip=0&show=20#p1009100

Almost all of us are operating under pseudonyms. You as publisher have no idea who the real person behind the article is. How can you acknowledge "my" copyright?

You have my email address, but the name and geographical address behind that information *should* not be available to you. Likewise, I have no reliable way to claim ownership unless I store texts and records of transmission in recorded delivery envelopes, or something with a higher tech rating.

What is copyright on this site?

Someone else who enjoys legalese! I'm not a freak!

Pseudonyms can hold copyright. Since you could easily edit your home space to include your full name and home town, a strong link between you and your h2g id certainly exists. You can probably also prove your ownership of the email address. Additionally, unless the registration process has changed, you are asked to provide your real name upon registration.

If someone steals your copyrighted material, the first thing to do is to give them due warning. The obvious way to do this would be to send them an (optionally anonymous) email with the URL of your material, noting the date of creation. Better yet, notify the BBC - since any violation of your copyright is automatically a violation of the BBC's copyright, I would expect the BBC to take steps to deal with such a situation.

Does this answer your question?

Don't worry, I kinda like legalese too.

Here's a copyright trick: mail the document to yourself. A postmark is official and dated. It *will* hold up in a court of law (at least in the US). DO NOT open the envelope, though, until you are arguing your case and only in front of the judge. If he (or she) doesn't see you opening it, there's no point . BTW, don't publish the document until the day after the postmark. Postmarks are by day, not time (again, I only know about the US), so you'll have to wait until the next day if you want to prove you didn't find it, copy it down, and send it to yourself.

Well, that's my trick, hope it's helpful.
-Spike A.