I wasn't disagreeing with you - I think the comparison to old-time storytelling is a good one. The beta, in my opinion, is a part of the creation process, but not the originator of the story - that's the fic writer. Of course, the (original) characters in FF belong to the person that created them...

and I do agree about being possessive of stories I've beta'd - if I went back & read it and there were glaring plot holes or SPAG errors I'd be embarrassed about missing them.