Facebook Vs. Google+: Blatant Rights Grab

One of my main beefs with Facebook is the fact that they demand an exclusive rights to any of my intellectual property including photographs that I may take.

2. Sharing Your Content and Information
You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition:

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). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.

2. 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).

3. When you use an application, your content and information is shared with the application. We require applications to respect your privacy, and your agreement with that application will control how the application can use, store, and transfer that content and information. (To learn more about Platform, read our Privacy Policy and Platform Page.)

4. When you publish content or information using the Public setting, it means that you are allowing everyone, including people off of Facebook, to access and use that information, and to associate it with you (i.e., your name and profile picture).

5. 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).

The parts that I have the most objection over are 1, which claims 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). This allows them to swipe any photo that I have and sell the photos that I have taken myself. 5 states that "we can take them if we want to...because you don't have to stick 'em on Facebook's sharing site. This is demanding full rights at gunpoint. At this point there is no other vehicle of sharing my content with other friends other than Facebook, so as a monopoly they demand rights to my content and the ability to resell them with no compensation forthcoming to me. On the other hand, Google+ has stated that they want the same unrestricted licence, however it has restricted the use of such content in no uncertain terms. "This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services."

11. Content license from you

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

11.2 You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this license shall permit Google to take these actions.

11.4 You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above license.

In any case, I feel like the Google+ terms of service are more reasonable than the terms dictated on FB. And as such, I plan to place the majority of my photography on that site and 500px as opposed to allowing Facebook the opportunity to rights-grab my images. I work hard for my images and have the right to make money from my images. That last thing I need is an amorphous corporation turning around and telling me that "I want the rights to your images and I will distribute them according to our rules and not yours, because I'm bigger and able to bring more legal firepower to bear." It appears, that if you do not want to lose full rights of copyright to your photos, do not stick them up on a social network. Keep them to 500px or to your own website. I think the term "caveat emptor" bears weight here.