posted February 24, 2009 06:36 AM
Part of the more legitimist portions of the recently deleted Facebook revised Terms of Use post was maintaining control of images posted. Within that thread the focus was on “photos” but for the purpose of this post I’d like to expand that to be “content” and define that as anything posted (text, video, etc.), not just photos per say.
A repeating theme in that post, and one I am 100% in sympathy with is this; if you post ANYTHING, you lose control of it. The surest way to NOT LOSE CONTROL is to simply never post or publish it. That appears, to me anyway, to be in contradiction to the letterhead spirit and some of what the “web” is about. And for many, not sharing, not instructing, not helping, and so on is a disappointment. However, losing control doesn’t always equate to losing one’s rights and I believe they are two distinct entities.
While doing my daily morning reading I stumbled across the following late January blog entry over at PixSylated.com by Syl Arena (Syl is a well known commercial photographer). In this entry he outlines a case of losing control but not losing his (and others) rights. It’s a quick read and one I sincerely believe to be very applicable to our trade.
I remember not too long ago how a few original content creators found their works for sale on anothers site. Going from memory here but I believe they were successful in having them removed. Occasionally we read about my sign showing up in the portfolio section of someone else’s website. The list goes on and on. Said persons lost control; they didn’t necessarily lose rights however.
Now your rights may be impacted or limited when posting or publishing in someone else’s playground (Letterville, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) and therefore one should give consideration to such Terms of Use for each. Even when posting on your own blog or site that is not hosted on your very own equipment, you probably have agreed to some limitations on your rights.
The issue I wanted to turn the spotlight on here is how I see a difference on losing control verse losing rights. Syl did a nice job in showcasing that with his entry and how, once discovered how abusive someone was, professionals within his trade banded together in a legal fashion to right a wrong,
-------------------- Bob Gilliland InKnowVative Communications Harrisburg PA, USA
"The U.S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself." Benjamin Franklin Posts: 642 | From: Harrisburg, PA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I stumbled across the following late January blog entry over at PixSylated.com by Syl Arena (Syl is a well known commercial photographer). In this entry he outlines a case of losing control but not losing his (and others) rights. It’s a quick read and one I sincerely believe to be very applicable to our trade.
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