Maybe this is old news, but I was checking Facebook’s terms of service to see if something had changed since the last time I saw them. But everytime I read this, I keep getting surprised and annoyed. The following is the exact quote from the terms of use that makes me think twice about uploading any pictures to my photo gallery.

I’ve highlighted the parts you should watch out for:

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.

And the other day I found some local TV advertising studio photographs, from the biggest TV network in latinamerica, posted on the photographer’s photo gallery. He could get sued by his client!

Good think Flickr exists and provides us with our own licensing terms. And even more for providing the option of Creative Commons licensing.

It would be interesting and a huge challenge, to come up with a social networking site like Facebook that follows the Franklin Street statement.