DAYTON -- If you've been on Facebook in the past few days, you've probably seen a similar message posted on many of your friends walls -- about declaring what they post is their own property - not that of Facebook's.
Turns out, it's a hoax.
"I probably check it, every... a couple times a day. It's definitely a way to network with people and keep up," said Katie Campbell who loves Facebook but is careful about her privacy.
"I don't put things on there that I know I don't want people to know. Or pictures I don't want people to see. So I feel like I'm smart enough about that," said Campbell.
But she also saw the recent message popping up on people's walls about ownership. Many people have.
"I'm an artist so a lot of stuff I post on there, I wouldn't want it used for anything other than my friends viewing it," said Andrew Valley of Dayton.
The post has been copied and pasted on wall after wall. It's a declaration - of sorts. It's the person's way of telling Facebook everything they own is theirs, but Facebook already knows that.
"You continue to own everything you post on Facebook... your pictures, your video, whatever," said Kelly Henrici, a Law Professor at the University of Dayton. She's an expert in copyright.
Henrici says Facebook only has your permission to use it, and that agreement is over the second you deactivate your account. They don't own anything.
"What they need is a license to use it and republish it. Because every time one of your friends hits the share button, well that's a redistribution of what you created. And you gave them permission to do that by putting it up there in the first place," said Henrici.
Henrici says the bottom line is that Facebook wants its user, after all, that's why it exists. She can't see them making such a blatant policy change now or anytime in the future.
Turns out, it's a hoax.
"I probably check it, every... a couple times a day. It's definitely a way to network with people and keep up," said Katie Campbell who loves Facebook but is careful about her privacy.
"I don't put things on there that I know I don't want people to know. Or pictures I don't want people to see. So I feel like I'm smart enough about that," said Campbell.
But she also saw the recent message popping up on people's walls about ownership. Many people have.
"I'm an artist so a lot of stuff I post on there, I wouldn't want it used for anything other than my friends viewing it," said Andrew Valley of Dayton.
The post has been copied and pasted on wall after wall. It's a declaration - of sorts. It's the person's way of telling Facebook everything they own is theirs, but Facebook already knows that.
"You continue to own everything you post on Facebook... your pictures, your video, whatever," said Kelly Henrici, a Law Professor at the University of Dayton. She's an expert in copyright.
Henrici says Facebook only has your permission to use it, and that agreement is over the second you deactivate your account. They don't own anything.
"What they need is a license to use it and republish it. Because every time one of your friends hits the share button, well that's a redistribution of what you created. And you gave them permission to do that by putting it up there in the first place," said Henrici.
Henrici says the bottom line is that Facebook wants its user, after all, that's why it exists. She can't see them making such a blatant policy change now or anytime in the future.
