This is a lovely thread, with poems that have moved and inspired me. But it raises the question of copyright.

Are any of these poems still under copyright? And if so, have you sought the authors' permission to reproduce them here? I would be pretty upset if my work were copied onto a website like this without any notice or permissions being given and would have every right to sue if that were the case.

While I appreciate that your motives are good, your actions might leave both the site and yourselves open to possible litigation. Sorry to be a literary wet blanket here, but it seemed wise to make the point before this went any further.

I think the copyright issue was discussed recently in another thread on this site, but can't recall where exactly. Search with "copyright" should unearth it.
Frankly, I'd love someone to upload one of my poems from elsewhere and extol its craft or just give it an appreciative audience.

Hi
As I begin to write this I feel very much like here we are again - beacuse as Paul rightly says we have been through this argument before.

I have to confess that I do not know the bottom line of the law about the reproduction of work / copyright and would be grateful if there is anyone out there who does know ???

What is clear to me is that I have copied these works from websites where they are readily available and that there are many millions of sites where poetry is reproduced in such a way. I would have guessed the purpose of such sites is that we read and enjoy these amazing works of art/ poetry but as I say I am not clear about copyright so to avoid any further I think it best that I do not post any further poems here.

Thanks to everyone who has I have really enjoyed sharing them.

PS I have pasted this from the POETRY 1 forum where the copyright issue was discussed before here is the reply given :

Mac - the current copyright laws stipulate 70 years after the author's death. But, in some cases, copyright is swiftly renewed by the the estate. If you're within this period it's all right to quote up to 30 words, if memory serves. But, surely the internet is awash with this sort of thing? I wouldn't be inclined to be too worried.

Mike