From what I can tell from the rules, the poster does not lose the ability to later publish his/her work and WritingForums.org does not gain ownership. Is this correct?
This is correct, but publishers might be reluctant to publish anything that's been posted on the internet. So you shouldn't really post here anything that you are planning to submit to publishers.
yes, that's why it's best to post only brief excerpts of anything you want to have published some day...
OK, thanks. I only intend to post short stories here. There is little likelihood of ever publishing those anyway. I just didn't want to lose rights like you do for posting creative material on some privately owned BBS's. Edit to add: I found the sticky in the general writing section that clarifies everything. Thanks again!
To clarify: - WritingForums.org does take copyright ownership of general forum posts (Publishing Forum, the Lounge, etc.), but does not take ownership or copyright of writing posted in the workshop. However, as other members have pointed out, posting your writing online may impact a publishers willingness to publish your writing.
Actually, that isn't really true (the first statement). The site doesn't take copyright ownership of any posts. Even Daniel's announcements remain copyrighted to him, not the site. Copyright cannot be transferred without explicit permission, signed by both parties, and even that has to be carefully executed to stand up i n court. However, the site takes license to the posting, which is another matter. That means that by posting, the person posting implicitly licenses the site to exhibit that material on the member's behalf, and is under no obligation to remove OR to indefinitely continue to display that content. The site or its representatives cannot sell or give publication rights to others, because they don't hold copyright on the material.
