Look Before You Leap; Read Before You Post

A healthy reminder to all those artists and songwriters out there.

The New York Times Reports:

Billy Bragg’s MySpace Protest Movement
By Robert Levine:

When he is not writing or performing protest songs, the British folk-rocker Billy Bragg is apparently reading the fine print.

In May, Mr. Bragg removed his songs from the MySpace.com Web site, complaining that the terms and conditions that MySpace set forth gave the social networking site far too much control over music that people uploaded to it. In media interviews and on his MySpace blog, he said that the MySpace terms of service made it seem as though any content posted on the site, including music, automatically became the site’s property.

Although MySpace had not claimed ownership of his music or any other content, Mr. Bragg said the site’s legal agreement — which included the phrase “a nonexclusive, fully paid and royalty-free worldwide license” — gave him cause for concern, as did the fact that the formerly independent site was now owned by a big company (the News Corporation, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch).

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About a month later, without referencing Mr. Bragg’s concerns, MySpace.com clarified its terms of service, which now explain who retains what rights. A sample line: “The license you grant to MySpace.com is nonexclusive (meaning you are free to license your content to anyone else in addition to MySpace.com).”

Jenny Toomey, executive director of the Future of Music Coalition, an advocacy group for musicians that focuses on intellectual property rights, said the Internet could help musicians warn one another about potential contractual problems. “Information is now shared in a different way,” she said, “and artists who are getting a bad deal can connect with each other.”

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To make it simple, the user agreement that you sign with MySpace grants them a copyright in anything you post. As indicated by the article, MySpace has made some changes, but whether they are sufficient to protect the value of the copyrighted work (a song, a photo, am image, a story, an idea) is an open question. The added language (“The license you grant to MySpace.com is nonexclusive (meaning you are free to license your content to anyone else in addition to MySpace.com).”) seems to say you can sell, or assign your interest in the copyrighted work . . . but they can too.

What's important is that the copyright language in the MySpace user agreement is not very unique, similar language can be found in the America Online terms of service and in many other mainstream social networking websites that allow you to post personal information. Some operator, probably of a less reputable web site, might see this oppotunity as a trap to unwary artists.

If you are posting your original songs, stories, poems, music, photos, paintings, images, or other copyrightable work on a third-party web site, you need to read the user agreement or service agreement very carefully with respect to its copyright provisions and how they may affect ownership of your own work. If the language raises questions in your mind, see an attorney.