A bogus message that has spread like wildfire on Facebook has helped propagate the myth that social media sites own the copyright to content that people put online.
Both businesses and individuals have been tricked into believing that Facebook has rights to photos, videos and other material that they posted.
There have been reports that thousands of users have copied and pasted a message on their accounts which claims to carry legal weight.
The message reads: “In response to the new Facebook guidelines, I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings, professional photos and videos etc (as a result of the Berner Convention).
“For commercial use of the above my written consent is needed at all times.”
Intellectual property experts have been quick to point out that there is no such thing as the Berner Convention in either UK or international law and are urging people to take no notice of the hoax.
This week, Facebook said that, while the company could distribute and share users’ posts if their privacy settings allowed it, they had no rights to the content.
“We wanted to take a moment to remind you of the facts — when you post things like photos to Facebook, we do not own them.
“Under our terms, you grant Facebook permission to use, distribute and share the things you post, subject to the terms and applicable privacy settings.”
The case highlights that the rapid rise of social media has caused new uncertainty about how copyright works.
It is interesting that when the UK Copyright Service recently posted a list of the top ten myths surrounding legislation, they addressed the common misconception that anything on the internet is “in the public domain” and free to use.
The suggestion appeared alongside other more traditional mistakes, such as posting something to yourself is proof of copyright.