[Rick Ace]

A forum is usually made up of many different contributors. Most of these individuals provide content voluntarily. Successful forums have the work of several contributors on the front page. The structure of forums is designed to encourage large amounts of input from the community. Sooner or later, the community is comprised of content from so many contributors, that it will hard to keep track them. In such cases, there is a great need for an understanding of content rights and ownership. Does a person have the right to request content to be removed? Who retains ownership of the posts on the forum?

The answers to those questions are complicated. The agreement before registration, your terms of service, and policies play a big role. Sometimes, your web host's guidelines may also come into play. (This is why it is important to use a reputable web host with a clear set of policies.) Legally-speaking, national and local laws could also play a role. Nevertheless, administrators have the great responsibility of staying updated with policies and laws, and also informing members of their own policies. How does your community handle content rights and ownership?

[JordanDD]

The answers to those questions are complicated...

[Fergal]

In the past I have been contacted by banned members, requesting that their posts be removed from a forum. I have always refused, to remove posts from the middle of a thread, would ruin the discussion and make it nonsensical in some cases. A couple of these members threatened legal action, but it never came to anything, to the best of my knowledge you are not under any legal obligation to remove content like that.

What I always do offer to do, is to remove any personally identifying info that someone would like removed from the web.

[shamzblueworld]

Yes apart from personal info, I don't think any person has right to ask the owner to remove their content from the forum, because after they post, its the property of the forum now, that's what I think anyway.