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Summary. There has been some concern expressed about the Facebook Terms of Use Policy on User Content Posted on the Site. The general concern is regarding a person’s personal creative work such as photography or art. Do these become property of Facebook? The answer is clarified by the Facebook Terms of Use statement found under the heading of User Content Posted on the Site. Here is an excerpt:
When you post User Content to the Site, you authorize and direct us to make such copies thereof as we deem necessary in order to facilitate the posting and storage of the User Content on the Site. By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content. Facebook does not assert any ownership over your User Content; rather, as between us and you, subject to the rights granted to us in these Terms, you retain full ownership of all of your User Content and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your User Content.
Creative Commons. The Facebook statement and policy is consistent with a Creative Commons BYSA 3.0 License. Anyone wanting to sell their photography (for example), should probably not post their high resolution photos on Facebook because, in doing so, you are giving Facebook license to use them. However, if you’re okay with promoting some samples of your work, then publishing on Facebook might be a good idea. You are essentially giving Facebook a license to use the material. The statement (above) is simply an effort to protect Facebook from a lawsuit.
Source of Concern. The source of the concern is the far-reaching statement regarding use, “…an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.” It sounds like you are giving Facebook complete control over your own personal content. However, the statment is clarified and limited by the subsequent statement, “You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire…”