Facebook Copyright Hoax

Lauren Williamson | @Laurenew90

You may have seen these posts making the rounds on Facebook lately, where users state that this copyright is attached to all their personal posts, photos, data, etc. Posts like these became popular in the past and seem to be making a comeback. The post encourages users to copy and paste the text onto their own status update, and by doing this, they are protecting themselves. These posts, however, are merely a hoax.

Currently, Facebook guidelines state, “You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings.” When you sign up for a Facebook account, you agree to these guidelines and nothing you post on your timeline will alter these terms and conditions.

Snopes has the full details on Facebook privacy myths and facts.

So be sure to tell all of your friends: Posting a copyright status to your Facebook page is useless.