So, Who Owns the Content on Facebook?

There has been a lot of buzz going around about Facebook privacy and who exactly owns content that is posted on Facebook.

For businesses using Facebook or any other social media,  it is essential and plain good business practice to be aware and up-to-date on all outlet policies, and therefore have the ability to make informed decisions on what information to post on your account.

The following is the exact language used on Facebook’s Rights and Responsibilities page that deals with content rights and ownership:

Sharing Your Content and Information

You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how we share your content through your privacy and application settings. In order for us to use certain types of content and provide you with Facebook, you agree to the following:

1. For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (”IP content”), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (”IP License”).
2. This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account (except to the extent your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it). When you delete IP content, it is deleted in a manner similar to emptying the recycle bin on a computer. However, you understand that removed content may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time (but will not be available to others).

We always appreciate your feedback or other suggestions about Facebook, but you understand that we may use them without any obligation to compensate you for them (just as you have no obligation to offer them)

This statement means that any content you post on Facebook is still yours, however, Facebook has a right to use whatever content you post without having to credit you in any way until your delete that content from Facebook. To maintain control over the content you post on Facebook, it is essential that you are proactive about using your privacy settings to ensure that the content you post is always used for your original purposes.

Facebook’s Full Privacy Statement

It is  important that your business have active policy concerning what is posted on Facebook by employees or with the company name. Sensitive material should never be posted on Facebook and all employees should be reminded that company ethics and confidentiality statements apply to social media outlets.

Also, to make sure that your business’s Facebook presence stays positive and useful, it is also important that all posts are consistent with branding and web strategy.

Tags: Facebook, Facebook privacy, Social Media, social media content

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