Is what we post on social media really ours? The answer is both simple and frustrating, and it comes straight from the policies of the two biggest social media giants.
Spoiler alert: On paper, yes, we technically “own” our content. But in reality, the situation is far murkier. While we hold the ownership rights, platforms have the power to do whatever they please with it. Once that post is live, it’s out of our hands—completely out of our control. So, while we might technically own our content, the real question is: Do we actually own it if we can’t control what happens to it?
From Facebook’s Terms of Service
[…] when you share, post, or upload content that is covered by intellectual property rights on or in connection with our Products, you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content (consistent with your privacy and application settings). […]
From Twitter’s Terms of Service
[…] By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods now known or later developed (for clarity, these rights include, for example, curating, transforming, and translating). […]
TikTok
From Tik Tok’s Terms of use
[…] You or the owner of your User Content still own the copyright in User Content sent to us, but by submitting User Content via the Services, you hereby grant us an unconditional irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully transferable, perpetual worldwide licence to use, modify, adapt, reproduce, make derivative works of, publish and/or transmit, and/or distribute and to authorise other users of the Services and other third-parties to view, access, use, download, modify, adapt, reproduce, make derivative works of, publish and/or transmit your User Content in any format and on any platform, either now known or hereinafter invented. […]
You further grant us a royalty-free license to use your user name, image, voice, and likeness to identify you as the source of any of your User Content;
Important passage:
[…] you are granting us the right to use your User Content without the obligation to pay royalties to any third party […]
Further informations
- SocialMediaToday: Who Owns Your Content Online?