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Why there is absolutely no point whatsoever in posting a copyright warning as your Facebook status

 

Tuesday 27 November 2012 10:22 GMT
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Should your boss be your Facebook Friend?
Should your boss be your Facebook Friend? (Getty Images)

Independent Voices has written before on the foolishness of Facebook copyright postings. But it appears some of you weren't listening.

Another round of legalese postings have appeared on the social networking site, with users asserting their copyright over material they have posted. However, as Wired painstakingly points out in this article, it is all for nothing: Facebook can do whatever they like with your holiday snaps, sucker. You signed up for it.

"The notice incorrectly implies that Facebook has recently changed the copyright provisions of its user agreement," writes Ryan Tate. "It then unnecessarily asserts a user’s copyright over his Facebook posts (you retain such copyright without posting a notice) and cites the “Berner Convention,” an irrelevant international treaty properly spelled “Berne Convention.” The notice then instructs Facebook to get written permission to make commercial use of the user’s content, which is pointless as Facebook users agree to let the social network make money off their posts when they sign up for the service."

Facebook have also issued a formal "fact check" statement.

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