re: Google Drive Privacy: 4 Misunderstood Facts
Ownership under copyright law is often unhelpful in understanding the effects of a copyright transaction.
What does GÇ£ownershipGÇ¥ of a copyrights mean? Under U.S. Copyright law, the owner of a copyright has the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:
GÇóTo reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
GÇóTo prepare derivative works based upon the work;
GÇóTo distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
GÇóTo publicly perform the work, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, and sound recordings by means of digital audio transmission;
GÇóTo publicly display the work, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work.
Under the Google license, the owner of the content has granted Google these rights:
"When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations, or other changes that we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display, and distribute such content."
Of the five exclusive rights that comprise copyright ownership, Google has been granted a license to exercise all five rights. Google can do anything with your content that you can do with your content other than sue people for copyright infringement. You no longer have any control over how your content is used GÇô what you give to Google can be used by Google as Google (GÇ£and those we work withGÇ¥ GÇô whoever that might be) without limitation.
Under the Microsoft license, the owner of the content has granted Microsoft these rights:
"You control who may access your content. If you share content in public areas of the service or in shared areas available to others you've chosen, then you agree that anyone you've shared content with may use that content. When you give others access to your content on the service, you grant them free, nonexclusive permission to use, reproduce, distribute, display, transmit, and communicate to the public the content solely in connection with the service and other products and services made available by Microsoft. If you don't want others to have those rights, don't use the service to share your content.
You understand that Microsoft may need, and you hereby grant Microsoft the right, to use, modify, adapt, reproduce, distribute, and display content posted on the service solely to the extent necessary to provide the service."
The rights that you grant Microsoft are solely to enable the access that you control; sharing, if any, what you have chosen to share with those you have chosen. Microsoft is only claiming a license to do the tasks required to implement the control you have decided upon.
Comparing the Google license to the Microsoft license demonstrates the fact that GÇ£owningGÇ¥ your stuff really doesnGÇÖt explain the rights to the stuff. Google exercises all the rights of ownership without limitation as Google sees fit without regard to your desires. The recently released FTC report on Google Street View suggests that GÇ£donGÇÖt be evilGÇ¥ is a fig leaf, not a mission statement. Microsoft exercises rights of ownership to implement your wishes.
Copyright is about control. While the words used by Google and Microsoft are similar, the results are not the same. Under the Google license, Google has control equal to the ownerGÇÖs control. Under MicrosoftGÇÖs license, control is retained by the owner.
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1/23/2017 | 11:26:18 PM