FACEBOOK'S IP GRAB
I'm just learning about Facebook, Twitter, and Social Networking sites in general. To be perfectly honest, I've been doing it in a rather clandestine fashion, given that my teenage/young adult kids have issued a fatwah on me that takes effect if they ever find out that I have created a Facebook identity. They've gone one step further and promised to kill me with their own hands if I ever even think of "friending" any of them. I know I'm pretty safe admitting here, in the privacy of my blog (which they would never be caught dead reading), that I've been doing some dabbling on Facebook and Twitter.
Forgive, for a moment, if you're an old hand at these sites. For the unenlightened, Facebook is free and open to anyone who signs up for an account. The content posted on one's site, as far as I can tell, tends to be limited to photos (of yourself, your family, your friends), and some short social commentaries in the form of personal updates and quips posted to one another's site (the posting area is called a 'Wall"). Although I haven't seen any Pulitzer-grade essays on any site yet, I do see links to websites, which undoubtedly contain copyrighted content. I know my own does. It goes without saying that all of the Facebook Pages, even those with photos only, have some intellectual property ("IP") to protect -- even if it is one's own right to privacy or publicity --the exclusive right to the commercial exploitation of your likeness or image.
Most content on your own site cannot be viewed by anyone unless they have been granted "Friend" status by you -- which requires a direct "Friend Request" --and which must be confirmed by you personally before the person can be your "Friend." Some people have thousands of "friends." Many, like my kids, have many hundreds of "Friends." Others, like people of my generation who are sort of embarrassed to be doing this anyway (and fear for their lives as parents) have more along the lines of 15 "Friends."
Individuals share links and content with one another, granting differing degrees of viewability to people based on preset Privacy Settings. At your discretion, some things can only be viewed by "Friends;" other things can reach a wider audience -- "Friends of Friends."
So what happened a few days ago to stir up such an uproar in the Facebook world?
Facebook amended its Terms of Service to give itself unbridled, uncompensated, never-ending license rights to all shared content posted on your Facebook Page -- even after the content has been deleted, or you close your account. Read the actual new language, affectionately referred to by consumer advocacy groups as "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever":
You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof. You represent and warrant that you have all rights and permissions to grant the foregoing licenses.
That's a staggeringly far-reaching license, and unprecedented in comparable sites such as Myspace, Youtube, Yahoo, and Google. It means that Facebook can use your photos, your face, your poems, whatever, in their ads, in derivative works (a Facebook Movie?) or for any other purpose. The only apparent self limitation is their agreement not to violate your privacy settings -- meaning things you've designated as limited to "Friends" only cannot be widely exploited by Facebook.
Terms of Use Update
Over the past few days, we have received a lot of feedback about the new terms we posted two weeks ago. Because of this response, we have decided to return to our previous Terms of Use while we resolve the issues that people have raised. For more information, visit the Facebook Blog.
If you want to share your thoughts on what should be in the new terms, check out our group Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.
I'm just learning about Facebook, Twitter, and Social Networking sites in general. To be perfectly honest, I've been doing it in a rather clandestine fashion, given that my teenage/young adult kids have issued a fatwah on me that takes effect if they ever find out that I have created a Facebook identity. They've gone one step further and promised to kill me with their own hands if I ever even think of "friending" any of them. I know I'm pretty safe admitting here, in the privacy of my blog (which they would never be caught dead reading), that I've been doing some dabbling on Facebook and Twitter.
Forgive, for a moment, if you're an old hand at these sites. For the unenlightened, Facebook is free and open to anyone who signs up for an account. The content posted on one's site, as far as I can tell, tends to be limited to photos (of yourself, your family, your friends), and some short social commentaries in the form of personal updates and quips posted to one another's site (the posting area is called a 'Wall"). Although I haven't seen any Pulitzer-grade essays on any site yet, I do see links to websites, which undoubtedly contain copyrighted content. I know my own does. It goes without saying that all of the Facebook Pages, even those with photos only, have some intellectual property ("IP") to protect -- even if it is one's own right to privacy or publicity --the exclusive right to the commercial exploitation of your likeness or image.
Most content on your own site cannot be viewed by anyone unless they have been granted "Friend" status by you -- which requires a direct "Friend Request" --and which must be confirmed by you personally before the person can be your "Friend." Some people have thousands of "friends." Many, like my kids, have many hundreds of "Friends." Others, like people of my generation who are sort of embarrassed to be doing this anyway (and fear for their lives as parents) have more along the lines of 15 "Friends."
Individuals share links and content with one another, granting differing degrees of viewability to people based on preset Privacy Settings. At your discretion, some things can only be viewed by "Friends;" other things can reach a wider audience -- "Friends of Friends."
So what happened a few days ago to stir up such an uproar in the Facebook world?
Facebook amended its Terms of Service to give itself unbridled, uncompensated, never-ending license rights to all shared content posted on your Facebook Page -- even after the content has been deleted, or you close your account. Read the actual new language, affectionately referred to by consumer advocacy groups as "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever":
You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof. You represent and warrant that you have all rights and permissions to grant the foregoing licenses.
That's a staggeringly far-reaching license, and unprecedented in comparable sites such as Myspace, Youtube, Yahoo, and Google. It means that Facebook can use your photos, your face, your poems, whatever, in their ads, in derivative works (a Facebook Movie?) or for any other purpose. The only apparent self limitation is their agreement not to violate your privacy settings -- meaning things you've designated as limited to "Friends" only cannot be widely exploited by Facebook.
It remains to be seen if user uproar will force Facebook to revert to its more reasonable Terms of Service. Let's hope so.
Update Feb. 18, 2009: Facebook caved and has (for now) given up its attempt to coopt all of its users' proprietary content. Keep the pressure on them. See the Terms of Use Update at the top of every home page:
Terms of Use Update
Over the past few days, we have received a lot of feedback about the new terms we posted two weeks ago. Because of this response, we have decided to return to our previous Terms of Use while we resolve the issues that people have raised. For more information, visit the Facebook Blog.
If you want to share your thoughts on what should be in the new terms, check out our group Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.
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