TNE - "VAMPIRE" & Copyright

The VAMPIRE ships sound an awful lot like BERZERKERs from Fred Sabehagen's
books with a loose explanation thrown in to make them "a unique idea".

Hopefully GDW will give credit where its due.

I meant to ask earlier but it slipped my mind (as many things do these
days).  What is the situation on ownership of items placed in this mail
list?  Is everything assumed to be public domain unless otherwise stated
or what?

Bruce...            [email removed]