Who owns my private messages on an internet forum?

[imp78]

Who owns my private messages on an internet forum?
Are they my property, or the property of the internet site?
If I am banned from accessing them, can I go about getting them back from the owner - is he under any obligation to return them to me if they are my property?

[dyli795]

Hi, Rest easy there imp78 and be assured your private messages are totaly yours and yours alone, However you broadcast your private message to the rest of the known world and (depending how clever they are) every little green man in the universe and his dog, if he has one ,(or if he hasn't, - but then gets one) and "hey presto" - "private" no longer exhists ! So, to sum up, yes you own everything that does not exhist. But you'll have to get a licence. Don't say I didn't warn yer.

[Gmcd01]

You own the copyright to whatever you type imp78, but the words themselves are intangible and so cannot be returned. If you mean have your comments rescinded, then sorry, UK copyright law does not recognise your right to remove work that has entered the public domain.

[dyli795]

Once the Geenie is out of the bottle, you are not able to get it back in. And , as Gmcd01 answers, the words them salves are intangible and so cannot be returned.
It's argueable if anything intangible actualy exhists or not so maybe you don't require a licence. Try asking at the Post Office before they close it down or you've no chance.

[imp78]

I should elaborate - I don't mean the posts that appear on the boards, I realise they are public domain. What I mean is the private message function to contact other members.

I have been banned from a forum after a disagreement with the owner, and I want the contents of my inbox back - it contains private messages / emails from my boyfriend that I want to keep.

Being banned I can no longer access my inbox - are the messages I have been sent mine, the property of the owner of the website, or the property of the person who sent them to me?

[Gmcd01]

Hmm that's a tricky one. I would imagine that you have confidentiality over the content of the messages, but as to recovering the contents...you might have to check the terms and conditions of that website's use to see who retains proprietary possession of electronic communications. If such a clause exists, my guess is that the domain retains ownership. Sorry this isn't more concrete advice!

[dyli795]

You'll probably find they are covered in the small print of conditions ( which, let's face it, I don't think any of us read and inwardly digest, they seem to go on for ever ! ) -
What ever has gone on , why can't you just leave it at that? You mention there's been a disagreement between you and the site owner. I'm afraid you'll find they hold all the cards. Isn't there another way of contacting your boyfriend? I can then better understand your dilema if so.
Finally ( perhaps using a computer in the library ) but explaining who you are, e.g. remind them of your e-mail address you can just try and appeal to their nicer side and, if this is so important to you, just say sorry and plead for a second chance given the circumstances. Tell 'em you were drunk, you've been having a bad time of it lately because- blah, blah, blah- : be nice and contrite. You've had a lesson well learned, be more carefull in future, and good luck, let us know how you go on. God Bless*

[dyli795]

no luck then eh?

[imp78]

The disagreement wasn't my fault, and the owner isn't currently rational.......hence my looking for another way round this!

A brief history. I met my boyfriend at a party that was organised through this site, and as such I have alot of messages that we swapped straight after we met that I would like to keep (and infact did keep in my inbox for over a year and a half).

For some reason the owner fell out with one of my friends, and 30 odd of us were banned for daring to keep in contact with this friend. So lesson learnt? What lesson - don't talk to your friends?! Its a bonkers situation, and there are 30 odd of us exceptionally annoyed by it.

I have sent a nice polite email asking for my messages back, which he replied and agreed to do, and said he would forward them on when he had the time. That was almost two weeks ago and theres still no sign of them.