Oh facebook, it's so delicously beautiful and so richly addictive. You can post pictures & artwork, music, videos, email your friends and get updates on what everyone else is posting quicker than you could ever have dreamed possible (i mean, how else are you going to keep up with your ex-boyfriends sister-in-laws holiday in Spain?). And who actually reads a websites terms of use before posting artwork or music they spent hours creating? I mean, isn't it all the same anyway?
Well, after a concerned friend passed along this note "I'm not sure exactly what the deal is with facebook and imagery.. but I've heard that they own the images once you post them... eeek! You, especially, might want to check that out if you already haven't."
This, of course, must be a rumor. Why would such a reputable company put something so ridiculous in their terms of use policy (you know, that thing you have to check off every time you upload a photo on facebook, or import a blog, or link your flickr photo's to your facebook profile...)?
But then... I did some digging. I found exactly what I was looking for, plain as day, in the top of a large section of text called "Proprietary Rights in Site Content; Limited License" And it didn't look good...(Facebooks Terms of Use)
"All content on the Site and available through the Service, including designs, text, graphics, pictures, video, information, applications, software, music, sound and other files, and their selection and arrangement (the "Site Content"), are the proprietary property of the Company, its users or its licensors with all rights reserved."
But the more shocking news comes a little farther down the list of terms:
"By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content. Facebook does not assert any ownership over your User Content; rather, as between us and you, subject to the rights granted to us in these Terms, you retain full ownership of all of your User Content and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your User Content."
So, what does this all mean to us anyway?
According to LegalAndrew.com:
"In plain English, this means you’re giving up copyright control of your material. If you upload a photo to Facebook, they can sell copies of it without paying you a cent. If you write lengthy notes (or import your blog posts!), Facebook can turn them into a book, sell a million copies, and pay you nothing."
Just because I'm uploading an image to a website should not mean I'm granting them a license (with right to sublicense!) my work. Not to mention that this rule can also apply to people who post your work under a creative commons license to their facebook profile. Also, be aware that using the flickr application in your facebook will put you in the exact same place as if you'd posted your images there directly from your computer. Same goes for all blog posts (imported or otherwise)...
So, can you trust any site to upload your photos?
Here's what flickrs terms of service are:
"With respect to photos, graphics, audio or video you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Service other than Yahoo! Groups, the license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Service solely for the purpose for which such Content was submitted or made available. This license exists only for as long as you elect to continue to include such Content on the Service and will terminate at the time you remove or Yahoo! removes such Content from the Service."
Sigh, these are terms I can live with (and i will! Yahoo for flickr!... ha ha, yes this pun was intened, much to your dismay!).
I know how hard all of you work to create your art, music, writing and crafts. I will advise any of you who respect intellectual property rights to stop posting your images to facebook and to avoid posting "from flickr to facebook", especially if the images are not your own. As far as creative commons licensing goes the only way this would be appropriate is if the photo is in the public domain.
So as far as lessons in trust go, this one is a big one for me. I find that it's easy to trust the sleek and polished face of a company that has attracted 62 million users and has become lovingly known as "crackbook" by it's biggest fans. I'll also admit that yesterday I was happily posting pictures of each and every illustration I'd created since I went freelance (well, the "good ones" anyway), imported each and every blog post I'd written (which included images of my work and some that I'd asked others if I could post of theirs), my flickr account, a live feed from my etsy store and of course pictures of myself with friends. And while it all may seem very unlikely that facebook would ever post an image from my collection I was in Chapters (Canada's largest bookstore chain) before Christmas and saw a magazine, created by facebook, full of users photos. So then... who knows?
As the saying goes:
"I guess nothing is ever free".
17 comments & more:
Big concerns. Personally, I don't trust these things... I've never been on Facebook (and don't plan to) and I find MySpace to be ugly. But posting anything on something that doesn't belong to me is always a concern.
Drawn! mentioned this a couple of months ago.
But I think you might be safe on Facebook with what is your property.
For what it's worth, Blogger makes no such claim. Yay, Google! :)
thank you for this ... clearly i need to change how i operate on facebook .... i really appreciate the fact that you pointed this out ...
Hey Crystal... wow, that was an eye opener, thanks so much for looking into that! It's not entirely surprising, but certainly disappointing. I think what made me most annoyed was reading that the you get to retain your intellectual rights to your User Content... as if that would make up for it if they use your content or create derivative works based on your content for a hefty profit!
Wow, that's horrid! Another reason why flickr is so great. I'll have to check into the myspace terms, I do have a few images there (though I don't remember reading anything like that! and I usually check). Thanks for this post!
Very interesting. Thank you for this.
Ouch!
Thanks for that eye opener!
Flickr looks OK... although the TOS does say "you grant Yahoo! the following worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive license(s), as applicable:
(stuff deleted)
3. With respect to Content other than photos, graphics, audio or video you submit or make available... (rest deleted)
The question therefore is, do "illustrations" = "graphics". If there is legal precedent that this is true, then their TOS are fine for illustrators. If a lawyer could argue that illustrations are not graphics, then errmmmm... not so cool.
Very interesting!
Wow. Thanks for this. I just pulled all my illos off Facebook.
VERY interesting. I am off to check what I've put on Facebook and delete illustrations from MySpace, just to bo on the safe side.
I take it correspondance between parties in Facebook is off limits???
A friend of mine just came up with this for Myspace:
6. Proprietary Rights in Content on MySpace.
6.1 MySpace does not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, or any other materials (collectively, "Content") that you post on or through the MySpace Services. After posting your Content to the MySpace Services, you continue to retain any such rights that you may have in your Content, subject to the limited license herein. By displaying or publishing ("posting") any Content on or through the MySpace Services, you hereby grant to MySpace a limited license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such Content solely on or through the MySpace Services, including without limitation distributing part or all of the MySpace Website in any media formats and through any media channels, except Content marked “private” will not be distributed outside the MySpace Website. This limited license does not grant MySpace the right to sell or otherwise distribute your Content outside of the MySpace Services. After you remove your Content from the MySpace Website we will cease distribution as soon as practicable, and at such time when distribution ceases, the license will terminate. If after we have distributed your Content outside the MySpace Website you change the Content’s privacy setting to “private,” we will cease distribution of such “private” Content outside the MySpace Website as soon as practicable after you make the change.
Lynne: Thanks so much for this information! I think it's mainly facebook's policies that are on the scary side but it's always good to check up on the places that you're putting your artwork. Thanks!
thank you thank you for mentioning this! I'm gonna be more careful with this.. arggh
Thank you for openning my eyes. i don't always read everything on the agreements, but from now on I have to.
A friend of mine sent me an email with a link here to your blog regarding Facebook. This is what I wrote back to her about this issue:
(Sorry...the part where I mention Highlighting doesn't show up in this post)
This is interesting so I took a look at the policies on Facebook as they actually appear on their website and I read it very carefully.
The post you linked to on Crystal Driedger's blogspot had actually left some of the text out. Here it is in it's entirety:
User Content Posted on the Site
You are solely responsible for the photos, profiles (including your name, image, and likeness), messages, notes, text, information, music, video, advertisements, listings, and other content that you upload, publish or display (hereinafter, "post") on or through the Service or the Site, or transmit to or share with other users (collectively the "User Content"). You may not post, transmit, or share User Content on the Site or Service that you did not create or that you do not have permission to post. You understand and agree that the Company may, but is not obligated to, review the Site and may delete or remove (without notice) any Site Content or User Content in its sole discretion, for any reason or no reason, including User Content that in the sole judgment of the Company violates this Agreement or the Facebook Code of Conduct, or which might be offensive, illegal, or that might violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of users or others. You are solely responsible at your sole cost and expense for creating backup copies and replacing any User Content you post or store on the Site or provide to the Company.
When you post User Content to the Site, you authorize and direct us to make such copies thereof as we deem necessary in order to facilitate the posting and storage of the User Content on the Site. By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content. Facebook does not assert any ownership over your User Content; rather, as between us and you, subject to the rights granted to us in these Terms, you retain full ownership of all of your User Content and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your User Content.
The part that I highlighted seems to be the most confusing aspect because of all the legal lingo....but what it is actually saying is that you as an artist is granting Facebook permission and license to display what you have uploaded. The part that says:
"and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing".
This is saying that you as the artist are uploading an image to which you have all these rights that are then listed. It is not saying that you are giving FB these rights, it is saying that you have these rights to your image.
The part I highlighted in pink is the part that was left out in Crystal's blogpost but I think it is a very important part of the paragraph because it is talking about Facebook needing us to give them the right to be able to store and post the images we are uploading to their site.
One other thing I found on the Facebook site that is helpful on this issue is:
Do I retain the copyright and other legal rights to material I upload to Facebook?
Yes, you retain the copyright to your content. When you upload your content, you grant us a license to use and display that content. For more information please visit our Terms of Use, which contain information about intellectual property, as well as your privileges and responsibilities as a Facebook user.
Another part of Crystal blogpost also left out some text. Again here it is in it's entirety:
Proprietary Rights in Site Content; Limited License
All content on the Site and available through the Service, including designs, text, graphics, pictures, video, information, applications, software, music, sound and other files, and their selection and arrangement (the "Site Content"), are the proprietary property of the Company, its users or its licensors with all rights reserved. No Site Content may be modified, copied, distributed, framed, reproduced, republished, downloaded, scraped, displayed, posted, transmitted, or sold in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, without the Company's prior written permission, except that the foregoing does not apply to your own User Content (as defined below) that you legally post on the Site. Provided that you are eligible for use of the Site, you are granted a limited license to access and use the Site and the Site Content and to download or print a copy of any portion of the Site Content to which you have properly gained access solely for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you keep all copyright or other proprietary notices intact. Except for your own User Content, you may not upload or republish Site Content on any Internet, Intranet or Extranet site or incorporate the information in any other database or compilation, and any other use of the Site Content is strictly prohibited. Such license is subject to these Terms of Use and does not permit use of any data mining, robots, scraping or similar data gathering or extraction methods. Any use of the Site or the Site Content other than as specifically authorized herein, without the prior written permission of Company, is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted herein. Such unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws including copyright and trademark laws and applicable communications regulations and statutes. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these Terms of Use shall be construed as conferring any license to intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise. This license is revocable at any time without notice and with or without cause.
Again, I have highlighted what was left out in Crystal's blogpost and I think the portion highlighted in pink says that everything above that does not apply to your user content.
All the things listed before the pink is talking about all the text, graphics etc, that was created by Facebook.
I think legal lingo is crazy and should always be accompanied by a translation! Some people may still disagree but I think we are not giving Facebook an all-access pass to our images, rather we are granting them the right to use and display that content.....with the word "Use" meaning giving them the ability to facilitate the posting and storage of the User content on the Site.
Susan Schroder
Susan: Thank you very much for this in-depth look on facebook's policies. While I agree with much that you are saying I still feel wary about granting facebook the license to use my images to promote itself. The biggest reason for this is because I have seen a facebook magazine published and sold in my local bookstore with hundreds of photographs of people doing various things, all in the name of "promoting" facebook, which is part of the license you grant them when publishing work. While I do not think facebook truly cares about publishing a bunch of illustrators and artists images in a promotional magazine I did find it a bit sad and creepy that all these teenagers images were being sold internationally to strangers. I think we should all be quite careful about what images we upload to the internet, especially when we grant someone a license to use them to promote themselves.
You are welcome...and I agree it is good to be wary and cautious. As a matter of fact I am going to try and contact Facebook and question them more....I don't know how successful I will be in that attempt!
As an artist, I have dealt with my images being taken and used without my permission quite a number of times already. I take this very seriously and have successfully pursued it each time. But it is incredibly difficult. So, I definitely, like to investigate issues like the one you brought up here and I always appreciate it when people raise awareness of Image rights.
Oh, and by the way, I also visited your website and truly enjoyed your work. You have a wonderful talent and I wish you the best in your artistic pursuits!
Oh boy. That's not good news :( You've done a service for us all by posting this.
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