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Until court cases are pressed to the Supreme Court, the exact
ownership of e-mail is going to be fluid, ...
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As the recent German example made clear this is an International Matter. At
some stage we *may* get modifications to the International Copyright
Convention that take account of the Internet. This could be years away.
In the interim consider pearls of wisdom originating in Bosnia, Canada and
Greece, translated and combined in Russia and read by people in over 150
countries, doubtless with further translations along the way. The opinion of
the US Supreme Court, if it has been expressed in a similar case, would be
at most something to be taken into account by the courts of Germany,
(whither, I will assume for awkwardness, the Bosnian writer has fled).
Even more convoluted examples can readily be imagined.
