Dear List: I wrote expressing my concern for the privacy and potential misuse of the photos & names of young people from Cayuga County, published on the WWW via our List and Message Board. They can be accessed by anyone, anywhere in the world, without their permission. We are all learning the 'rules' of privacy, and law usually follows, not leads. In this case I am told it is more likely to be a copyright issue as the photographs belong to the photographer, regardless if they were published in the newspaper. From www.copyright.com "6. ... The legal concept of the public domain as it applies to copyright law should not be confused with the fact that a work may be publicly available, such as information found in books or periodicals, or on the Internet. The public domain comprises all those works that are either no longer protected by copyright or never were. Any content in a non-digital form that is protected by copyright will be protected in a digital form. For example, print books are protected by copyright as are electronic books. Analog musical recordings are protected by copyright as are digital musical recordings. A print letter is protected by copyright as is an e-mail letter (both generally owned by the author of that letter or e-mail)..." "Generally coypright has expired on materials created before 1923." So even without having to consider the ethics of publication on our List or Message Board, that cut-off date of 1923 should protect most third parties. "Under US copyright law, it is illegal to copy someone else's photographs, without permission, and publish them on your website." These are changing times, and I hope this information will be received in the helpful manner it is intended. Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com