[Guide] Why Facebook Needs a License to Your Posts: A Quick Explanation

[Uncrowned Guard]

When you create a Facebook account and start posting content on the platform, you grant Facebook a license to use and distribute that content. This is outlined in Facebook's terms of service, which you agree to when you sign up for the service.

The reason for this is that Facebook needs the right to use and distribute your content in order to operate the platform and provide you with the service. This includes displaying your posts on your own profile, as well as on other people's newsfeeds and in search results. It also allows Facebook to store and backup your content, so that it can be accessed by you and others in the future.

While Facebook does not own your content outright, the license you grant them allows them to use it in a variety of ways. This is why you may see your posts appearing on other people's newsfeeds or in search results, even if you have not specifically shared them with those individuals.

However, it's important to note that you can control who sees your posts and how they are used by adjusting your privacy settings on Facebook. You can choose to share your posts with only your friends, or make them visible to the public. You can also control whether or not Facebook can use your posts for advertising purposes by adjusting your ad preferences.

Overall, while Facebook does not technically own your posts, the license you grant them allows them to use and distribute your content in order to operate their platform and provide you with the service. You can control how your content is used by adjusting your privacy settings on the platform.

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[ZandraJoi]

Facebook is like a search engine then. Anything goes. If we post a post on a forum & somebody takes it, that's stealing. Even if it's not plagiarism.

Their guidelines make it so confusing. They don't "own" your posts yet they can do whatever they want with them. That's a contradiction.

I never knew that about FB. Anybody know if other social media platforms are the same?

[Uncrowned Guard]

On 9/23/2023 at 10:49 AM, ZandraJoi said:

Facebook is like a search engine then. Anything goes. If we post a post on a forum & somebody takes it, that's stealing. Even if it's not plagiarism.

Their guidelines make it so confusing. They don't "own" your posts yet they can do whatever they want with them. That's a contradiction.

I never knew that about FB. Anybody know if other social media platforms are the same?

Sadly, confusing guidelines and terms are a normal anymore. 

Many websites, forums included, need to establish terms and conditions that include clauses about content ownership and license to use posted content, mainly due to the complex legal landscape surrounding user-generated content. This is to avoid legal complications and to enable the normal operation of the websites, such as allowing user content to appear in search results or be referenced in different parts of the sites, like in "recent posts" sections.

Without such terms, websites would indeed face significant operational and legal challenges, and would potentially need to obtain explicit permission for each use of user-generated content, which would be practically unfeasible and highly restrictive.

[ZandraJoi]

On 9/27/2023 at 1:46 PM, Uncrowned Guard said:

Sadly, confusing guidelines and terms are a normal anymore. 

Many websites, forums included, need to establish terms and conditions that include clauses about content ownership and license to use posted content, mainly due to the complex legal landscape surrounding user-generated content. This is to avoid legal complications and to enable the normal operation of the websites, such as allowing user content to appear in search results or be referenced in different parts of the sites, like in "recent posts" sections.

Without such terms, websites would indeed face significant operational and legal challenges, and would potentially need to obtain explicit permission for each use of user-generated content, which would be practically unfeasible and highly restrictive.

That's how they can get you & save their butts too. "Nobody" reads all those TOS on each website they visit. A lot of it is filler hiding the true rules.

They certainly make it a Catch 22. We need guidelines, we need terms yet I feel we need a balance. IF people were just decent human beings, we wouldn't need to worry about stealing & lying.

 

[Uncrowned Guard]

4 hours ago, ZandraJoi said:

That's how they can get you & save their butts too. "Nobody" reads all those TOS on each website they visit. A lot of it is filler hiding the true rules.

They certainly make it a Catch 22. We need guidelines, we need terms yet I feel we need a balance. IF people were just decent human beings, we wouldn't need to worry about stealing & lying.

 

There was a time when websites were pushing more creatively written and "common tongue" terms of service and policies.  Making them both easier to read and understand, while also making them more readable in general.  They added summaries, tones, even humor and such, but this all seems to have ended sadly.  I'd assume someone got sued and lost due to the terms be "unofficial" and now we are back to this.  This is one reason why I always tried to add concepts like Our Privacy Stance for Uncrowned Empire to make things easy to read and quick, but I will be the first one to admit that I slack off on these as policy writing is awful.