Image rights on facebook

Hi guys, i read somewhere some time ago that if i upload an image to facebook, no matter what watermark i have, they got the right to use that image however they want.

If so, they are not allowed to use images on my personal website when i link to the images etc?

Am i right or not?

davidfarina wrote in post #16358979
Hi guys, i read somewhere some time ago that if i upload an image to facebook, no matter what watermark i have, they got the right to use that image however they want.

If so, they are not allowed to use images on my personal website when i link to the images etc?

Am i right or not?

You are right, that there are limits there. What specifically they are, well, I'm not sure.

Facebook is a "free" social networking site, and so they have some "latitude", but I'm not sure of what applies in the scenario you describe!

A watermark doesn't do anything anyways, copyright it the right way.

No that isn't right. They can use the content you upload in the manner described in license you granted them when you agreed to the terms of service, which is not the same as "however they want". The latest version apparantly allows them to use your content in advertising for/on the service but it is unclear what exactly that means. However, despite the fact that you may have granted them a license to use your photos (assuming that you own them) there are several other issues that may stop them.

The main one is Image rights/rights to publicity. Many image on FB are of people who are not members and have not agreed to the TOS. Some people even use profile pictures that are images of another person. Using such an image in advertising would breach that persons right to control the use of their likeness for promotion/advertising. It is virtually impossible for FB to know if an image is of the account holder or someone who has not agreed to the TOS so using any image of a person (or allowing any other company to do so) could result in the heft lawsuit/damages. Just because you or I own the copyright to an image does not mean we can give away someone else's image rights.

The license agreement doesn't include material that you link to on other services/websites. Only material, such as photos, that you upload to your Facebook account.