CompuServe Messages

What? Did someone claim that posting messages to Compuserve makes them "public domain"? Nope. Arguably, the contents of the message remain "copyright" the author of the message, who gave permission to CompuServe to re-publish their work in this public forum. CompuServe has a "collection copyright" on the organization of the messages here, similar to the copyright held by a book publisher who publishes an anthology of poems by various authors. So, it's not legal for people to collect the message threads here and re-post to BBSes for example. (And I've seen that done.) You could reprint the message if you got permission from the author. You are much safer to exploit the hints and tips here… read the ideas, express them in your own words, and you'll own your explanation. And then you can publish a 3DS hints-and-tips book built on the shoulders of others. 🙂