Who Owns Comments you Write?
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Earlier tonight, I was working on a blog post for Chris, called Who Owns your Comments?. I couldn’t stop thinking about the issue, and am decidedly torn on it. I can see this from two different angles: that of a blog owner, and that of a commenter myself.
On one hand, I feel that the person who writes the comment owns it. It doesn’t matter where said comment is made: a blog, a YouTube video. If you write an original comment to contribute to a discussion, you are sharing your personal thoughts or feelings. How can someone else then ‘own’ your thoughts?
Yet on the other hand, I feel that the place (or person owning said place) where the comment is made owns it. For instance, if you make a comment on my personal blog it would then become mine. How do I come up with this? It’s simple. That is my space. I own it. Comments are held in moderation when you make them, as they are here on Lockergnome. If I don’t like what you have to say, I don’t have to approve it. If you spam or use offensive language, I will delete it. Once I publish it and allow it to show on my space, it then becomes a part of my content.
Another angle would be that of the website I help run, GeeksToGo. As with any forum, there are Terms of Use that you must agree to when you sign up for a free membership. In those TOU, it states:
If you do post or otherwise submit questions, answers feedback, or any other content, and unless we indicate otherwise, you grant Geeks to Go and its affiliates a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media. You represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content that you post…
In this instance, you retain ‘ownership’ of what you have written, but you have agreed to allow us to use, reproduce or modify your content as we see fit. Is this the same as a blog post? If you leave a comment on someone’s blog, are you giving them express rights to re-use what you have posted?
This is an interesting question, with many different scenarios. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
3 Comments
the oracle
June 19th, 2008
at 3:00am
My thoughts run to the idea of holding comments. I have never done it here, as I expect a certain amount of decorum on the part of the responders. I also feel that if the person that is responding feels that their response is a waste, why should they bother. If anyone doesn’t like what people might say, they should simply close the comments section. Anything else is less than honest - only showing comments you are willing to tolerate is painting an incomplete picture.
Bobzilla
June 20th, 2008
at 2:17pm
Posted comments to blogs are owned by the person who posted the comment, not the blog owner. The comment is just hosted on the blog, it is not the blog owners words.
system001
June 21st, 2008
at 11:52am
hell no you do not own my personal comments! a blog is just like a townhall. townhall meetings were established so people could feel free to express their opinion on whatever issue was being discussed at the time. in this country in a lot of smaller towns the townhall meetings are held at a busines because that town cannot afford a townhall. going by your views on blogs this would mean once i expressed my opinion on the subject that business owner now owns my thoughts and opinions on said subject. meaning any further comments i might want to make on said subject is up to the business owner if i can say anything else on the matter. not in this lifetime. the best part of the web is the fact that your personal opinion can reach millions of people very quickly. the web is suppose to end the censorship of free speech not embrace it. believing that comments made on a blog belong to the blog owner is asking for trouble. at any time at the blog owners discretion you can completely silenced.