Legal Question in Entertainment Law in California

Re: Pulic internet postings used for material in a play.

Unless there is an agreement between the poster and the site, for example in the site's terms of service, the copyright for each post is owned by its poster (automatically, the poster need not register the copyright or take any other action). So you would have to look 1) to the site's terms of service; and 2) to each poster for permission.

Re: Pulic internet postings used for material in a play.

No guarantees or any assurance intended. However, I think I disagree with Mr. Stone. The classifieds are in the public domain. As long as you don't identify the person who posted, I think it should be OK. I do not guarantee anything, but to increase security, you might use fictious listings based on real ones -- this would further insulate you.

Re: Pulic internet postings used for material in a play.

I am a bit confused. If you have already contacted craigslist.com and they have granted permission to use their name, why not ask the same contact there for written permission to use the posts? There is still the issue as to whether or not the copyright to the posts are actually owned by the posters rather than the forum, but at least you can clarify that craigslist.com has no problem with your conduct. Otherwise, without their permission, your use would seem to violate Clause 10 of their TOS, available online here: http://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use.html

To avoid copyright issues with the posters, why not fictionalize or create composites based on the inspiration from reading scores of invidvidual actual posts?

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