Legal Research

Your License on Facebook

There’s been some discussion about Facebook and privacy, but less, perhaps, about the matter of who may use the material posted to it. Remember the fuss when Google Chrome’s EULA claimed rights in everything that passed through the browser? Well, if you’re a Facebook user, you might want to take a look at their “contractual” offer.

Facebook’s terms of use make it clear that in using the site 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.
[re-formatted]

(Does paragraph ‘b’ make sense? I’m having trouble parsing it.)

All you base are belong to them — except, it would seem, insofar as your privacy terms inhibit their right to “use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform” etc. your content, as spelled out at length in their privacy policy. It’s not clear to me, at least, what this adds up to. If, on my privacy settings, I check “all of my networks” or “friends of friends,” have I effectively enabled Facebook to “display” photos I’ve uploaded, etc.? If I keep the maximum of privacy possible, have I in effect nullified the above license?

I’m sure that there are readers out there who’ve figured this thing out. What’s the opinion among users?

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on February 11, 2009 (boomark / email).