Putting novels on internet.

[atalanta]

Hi everyone,

I heard somewhere, some time ago, that if you write up a novel and put it on the internet, that you lose copyrights or something like that and that publishers don't have to pay you or you can't sell your story.  I don't remember it exactly but does anyone know the laws around this sort of thing?  Do you lose the potential to own your own story if you put it on the net, etc?