AOL and copyright lawsRe: riff stealing in music industry

I just got off the phone with a nice gentleman at AOL who told me that all public posts on the board are public domain OR AOL has a license, based on their terms of service agreement, to edit, remove, move, or alter those posts. In the Terms of Service, there is also an indication that both AOL and the user hold a copyright in the work, because it is a joint work (I think they actually call it a collective work). Is anyone here familiar with AOL's rules, or can give me further input about this-it seems obvious that AOL has the right to edit the boards, and that there can be no expectation of privacy on a public board, but how can that make something public doman? or how can something be a collective work? Is it because AOL supplies the software & interfact for reading, posting and downloading, and therefore the "writing" would not be possible without AOL's interface/input?

I think I'm talking in a circle!

Heidi Howard

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