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Monday, Nov 26, 2012 5:03 PM UTC

Viral Facebook copyright notice is false

A legal note spread through the social media site after the company banned users from voting on privacy issues

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Topics: Privacy, Copyright, Facebook, Social Media, Viral, information,

Viral Facebook copyright notice is false (Credit: 1000 Words / Shutterstock.com)

You may have seen friends posting a personal copyright notice on their Facebook pages this weekend, meant to protect their information from being shared or used without their consent. Unfortunately, the notice, like others in the past, is fake. Mashable reports:

The idea behind the “notice” is that Facebook’s listing as a publicly traded company will negatively affect its users’ privacy, which is not true. Simply put, Facebook and its users are still bound to the same terms and conditions that are accepted by users when they sign up for the service, and posting a legal “talisman” of this kind on your profile does nothing to change that.

The note went viral in response to Facebook’s recent decision to block users from voting on what the company does with personal information and how it manages privacy.

Read the note, below:

In response to the new Facebook guidelines I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, graphics, comics, paintings, photos and videos, etc. (as a result of the Berner Convention). For commercial use of the above my written consent is needed at all times!

(Anyone reading this can copy this text and paste it on their Facebook
Wall. This will place them under protection of copyright laws. By the present communiqué, I notify Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, disseminate, or take any other action against me on the basis of this profile and/or its contents. The aforementioned prohibited actions also apply to employees, students, agents and/or any staff under Facebook’s direction or control. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of my privacy is punished by law (UCC 1 1-308-308 1-103 and the Rome Statute).

Facebook is now an open capital entity. All members are recommended to publish a notice like this, or if you prefer, you may copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once, you will be tacitly allowing the use of elements such as your photos as well as the information contained in your profile status updates…

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com. More Prachi Gupta.

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