This is an issue that has seen publicity twice recently, are you giving your rights to others by using their online space ?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5065632.stmBilly Bragg has removed his music from the MySpace website as he fears it could be used without his permission.
The musician is objecting to a clause in the terms and conditions which he claims could allow MySpace to do what they want with it.
Because the legalese has caused some confusion, we are at work clarifying it to make very clear that MySpace is not seeking a licence to do anything with an artist's work other than allow it to be shared in the manner the artist intends.
"Putting music on MySpace does not give us the right to sell it - the musicians own their content and can do with it as they wish.
The same concern was raised regarding YouTube
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/12/youtube_owns_derivative_works/Millions may be about to discover what singer Billy Bragg found out recently - that "community" hosting web sites can do as they please with creative material you submit.
In its Terms & Conditions, the wildly popular video sharing site YouTube emphasizes that "you retain all of your ownership rights in your User Submissions".
There's quite a large "BUT...", however. Not only does YouTube retain the right to create derivative works, but so do the users, and so too, does YouTube's successor company
"It is good to know that if you delete a video from YouTube, then the rights you have granted them terminate. However, once they have distributed your video 'in any media format and through any media channel', that’s a little hard to take back, right?"
As we always urge the users here, read the small print and seek clarification on any aspect of something your not happy with.
Those offering creative works online are saddled in law with the burden of protecting their work, but should have the experience of the offline world to help them to do so, nevertheless if in doubt fire off an email.
