Over the past few days, you might've seen people on Facebook posting a legal-sounding message on their wall, declaring that all of their photos and personal details are their own copyrighted property.
Well . . . don't bother. It's a meaningless hoax. As part of your agreement when you signed up with Facebook, you gave them the right to use anything you post pretty much any way they want, unless you delete it.
I’ve included the full text of the notice below.
In response to the new Facebook guidelines I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, graphics, comics, paintings, 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!
(Anyone reading this can copy this text and paste it on their Facebook
Wall. This will place them under protection of copyright laws. By the present communiqué, I notify Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, disseminate, or take any other action against me on the basis of this profile and/or its contents. The aforementioned prohibited actions also apply to employees, students, agents and/or any staff under Facebook’s direction or control. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of my privacy is punished by law (UCC 1 1-308-308 1-103 and the Rome Statute).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. If you do not publish a statement at least once, you will be tacitly allowing the use of elements such as your photos as well as the information contained in your profile status updates…
If you don't want them to use your info . . . delete your account. There's an old saying that if a company is giving you something for free and not selling a product, then YOU are the product. And that's more true on Facebook than ANYWHERE else.
