Like clockwork, every couple of months some "fact" near Facebook goes viral. Facebook is going to get-go charging you money! Copy and paste this condition or Facebook will cook your children! As soon every bit you upload them, Facebook owns your photos!

That last one is especially common, and then permit'due south talk nearly it.

What Rights Does Facebook Accept to Your Photos?

Permit's start by getting on the same basic page: no, Facebook doesn't ain your photos. That'due south not how copyright or real life works. They're still your photos, not Facebook's. In fact, information technology's correct in Facebook'south terms of service: "You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook."

Got it? Good. Myth busted. Now let'due south address what rights Facebook does have with your photos once you lot upload them. Here's the relevant bit of the terms of service:

You own all of the content and data you lot mail service on Facebook, and y'all can command how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition:

  1. For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and awarding settings: you grant us a not-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to employ whatever IP content that you lot post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when yous delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they take not deleted it.
  2. When yous delete IP content, it is deleted in a manner similar to emptying the recycle bin on a figurer. Withal, you understand that removed content may persist in fill-in copies for a reasonable catamenia of time (just will not exist available to others).

So Facebook gets a "non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license" to your photos. Let's pause it down.

A "royalty-complimentary worldwide license" means Facebook is gratuitous to employ your photos pretty much how they'd like anywhere in the world without paying you a penny or asking your permission.

"Transferable" and "sub-licensable" mean that Facebook tin either transfer the license to another entity or just sub-license it, once more without your permission.

Finally, "not-exclusive" means that you lot're free to license your photo to anyone else you desire. Just because y'all've uploaded a photo to Facebook, it doesn't hateful you lot tin't share information technology on Twitter, or do any else you lot want with it.

These are all pretty broad and scary terms but, for Facebook to work as intended, information technology needs this sort of vague license. Displaying the photos you postal service to Facebook in your friend'southward News Feeds would be incommunicable otherwise: if you hadn't given them a license, it would be a violation of your copyright for them to show that photo to your friends.

You're Still In Control

The about important sentence, withal, is "subject to your privacy and awarding settings". Through Facebook'south privacy settings you're able to control exactly how your images are used. If you merely want your shut friends to see them? You lot can do that. This means that, even though Facebook's license is broad, yous're withal in control of how it'south implemented.

RELATED: How to Brand All Your Past Facebook Posts More Private

Another important clause is, "This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account." Once more, this gives you command. If you delete a photo, Facebook's license is revoked. Information technology's the same when you lot delete your account.

RELATED: How to Delete a Facebook Postal service

To sum up, this all ways that:

  • Facebook doesn't ain your content, y'all do.
  • Facebook'due south terms of service sound scary but actually aren't.
  • Your privacy settings control how Facebook uses your photos.

There's no need to worry almost Facebook using your photos to brand T-shirts or flogging them on stock photo sites. They make most $threescore a year for every Usa or Canadian user; selling your photos of you lot at Coachella or playing Dungeons and Dragons wouldn't even come close to generating that sort of acquirement.