One repeat offender stands out as particularly frustrating: copyright disclaimers. As a professional Technologist, I often find myself mythbusting on some friends’ Facebook posts. In this post, I will explain this myth and how you can help stop it from spreading.
Myth: Copying and pasting a legal-sounding disclaimer from a friend’s post does not enable you to claim and maintain copyright to your content. Here is a common example (via Snopes):
“In response to the new Facebook guidelines, I declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings, photos and videos, etc. (as a result of the Berner Convention).
(Anyone reading this can copy and paste this text on their Facebook Wall. This will provide them protection under copyright laws. By this statement, I notify Facebook that it is prohibited to disclose, copy, distribute, disseminate, or take any actions against me based on this profile or its contents. This prohibition also applies to Facebook employees, students, agents, or any other staff under Facebook’s direction or control.) The content of this profile is confidential and private information. Any violation of my privacy is punishable by law under the UCC 1 1-308-308 1-103 and the Rome Statute.
Facebook is now a publicly-traded company. It is recommended that all members publish a statement like this or copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a notice, you may be tacitly allowing the use of your photos and information contained in your status updates.
Mythbusting Proof: This excerpt from Facebook’s terms disproves the myth that the company takes ownership of users’ original content.
If you post photos or videos that are protected under intellectual property rights (IP content), you grant Facebook a non-exclusive, transferable license to use that content worldwide. This license is subject to your privacy and application settings, and it is royalty-free. This license for your intellectual property ends when you delete your content or account, unless your content has been shared with others and they have not deleted it.
It is misleading to post a privacy disclaimer, as it does not provide automatic rights to the content shared on Facebook. This type of post is harmful to users who may believe otherwise. By agreeing to Facebook’s terms and conditions, which you do by using or even just logging into the site, you automatically waive all rights to your content.
This myth is particularly harmful to artists or others for whom copyright is valuable. Believing that posting a disclaimer once gives one copyright can result in financial consequences if their content is used without their knowledge or consent, and without generating royalties.
For instance, a photographer who uploads an image to Facebook may think they maintain the copyright by posting a disclaimer. Under Facebook’s terms, the company can utilize the uploaded image in ads or other places and can even transfer the rights to a third party without compensating the photographer or giving credit. This could discourage photographers from uploading valuable content to the platform. Therefore, it is vital to be aware of Facebook’s terms of service to exercise caution while sharing content.
Do This Instead: For complete control of your content, delete your Facebook account and request that any shared content from you or others be removed. However, if you cannot imagine life without your Facebook account and encounter a copyright disclaimer on your timeline, you can prevent its propagation by debunking it as a myth. Posting a Snopes link typically suffices. And finally, the key to being a Facebook mythbuster is to read Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. As a user of a website that owns the copyright to your content, it’s essential to be informed.