There has been a semi-outrage on Facebook with users posting legal disclaimers that provide them with the right to ‘own’ their content. Well this is entirely unnecessary.
Over the last week you might have noticed several status updates on Facebook such as this:
In response to the new Facebook guidelines, I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings, crafts, professional photos and videos, etc. (as a result of the Berner Convention).
For commercial use of the above my written consent is needed at all times!
Facebook is now an open capital entity. All members are recommended to publish a notice like this, or if you prefer, you may copy and paste this version.
Turns out that this is just another hoax. Any content you generate on Facebook gets covered by the copyright law. There are no “new Facebook guidelines” and the “Berner Convention” is just another made-up name by a jobless scammer.
Furthermore, Facebook has come up and issued a reassuring statement:
There is a rumor circulating that Facebook is making a change related to ownership of users’ information or the content they post to the site. This is false. Anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post, as stated in our terms. They control how that content and information is shared. That is our policy, and it always has been.
So that’s that then. You can rest assured that your content is very much yours and Facebook is not going to mess around with. We can all stop posting “I hereby declare…” status updates now.
Source: New York Times