Copyright this
A conversation with Roseanne about website disclaimers this evening provoked much ire (me) and amusement (her) and then ire again (me). We were discussing website disclaimers, wherein a website (like mine) will have a disclaimer (like mine) about content, basically shirking responsibility for any lawbreaking that goes on while a visitor is perusing their site. Specifically, and for the sake of transparency, we were discussing RTÉ’s The Afternoon Show’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.
The Afternoon Show claims to have a policy of allowing comment, unbridled comment, as such, in that the commenter has the responsibility for the content of their comments. An example from The Afternoon Show: “You understand and agree that you are solely responsible for Your Content and the consequences of posting or publishing them.” (As an aside, neither “your” nor “content” deserve a capital letter, and that hurts my eyes to even look at.)
But in the next breath, TAS (as it is now calling itself, thus it shall be) claims its right to “Your Content” (ugh): “You agree that we may, free of charge, use, edit, moderate, copy and make Your Content or any part of it available as we see fit on the RTÉ Sites or on any other RTÉ or third party services in any media worldwide.”
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this a copyright issue? And would I not be right to suggest that, if you are claiming ownership of a piece of intellectual property, you are asserting your copyright of that item – and that, if you own the copyright for something (as TAS claims to, once you post to its Twitter or Facebook), you, and only you, are responsible for said content? I feel like TAS just wants to have the cake and eat everybody else’s, too. Or am I wildly mistaken? Anyone out there have a greater understanding of copyright law than I do? (Probably a few people.) Please do share.
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