Think Your Web Hosting is Free? Think Again!
Dateline: 07/01/99
For those who are just starting out marketing their books, periodicals or writing on the Web, a starter site on one of the free Web hosting services on the Internet seems like a perfect way to begin... or is it?
A recent controversy over the terms and conditions on the Yahoo-GeoCities hosting service is just one example of why people, especially those who earn their living from intellectual property, should take a close look at the rights they are giving up by hosting on a free server. In many cases, free is just too costly.
The Controversy
Yahoo, which recently acquired GeoCities, angered many of those who use the service when it posted a new terms of service agreement for the site, granting Yahoo "the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive and fully sublicensable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such Content (in whole or part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed." New 'homesteaders' are required to agree to these terms before signing up. People with existing sites will have to agree to the terms before being allowed to add to or modify their pages.
For many of the people who spent their time and energy creating sites on GeoCities, this was asking far too much. Angry Web site owners have posted protest sites and banners asking other GeoCities 'Homesteaders' to move their sites in protest of the new terms of service. Other free Web hosts have joined the fray, condemning GeoCities' actions, hoping to attract more users to their own services.
While they have largely escaped attention, similar terms of service are posted at Tripod and Xoom, other popular free hosting services. And although Yahoo has altered their TOS slightly to placate angry homesteaders, the issue has not been buried.
Can They Do That?
I asked Ivan Hoffman, an attorney who specializes in Internet and copyright issues, to comment on the Terms of Service:"Under United States copyright law, the original creator of a copyrightable work owns all rights in it," Hoffman explained. "And while an exclusive grant of rights to another party must be in writing signed by the creator, it is possible for the creator to transfer non-exclusive rights without such a signed writing, which is what the Terms of Service claim to acquire including the right to make derivative works from such content." Whether or not the Terms would be deemed valid by the courts is unclear, however. Hoffman said that, "the issue is further complicated by the open legal issues surrounding so-called "click on" or "shrink wrap" licenses."
My Rights, Your Rights, Their Rights...
The problem goes far beyond your own copyrights. If you are using graphics created by someone else, a photograph taken by someone other than yourself, or any other copyrightable item that you did not create, you've got a problem. You can't grant Yahoo rights that aren't yours to give away, but by clicking the "I Accept" button, that is exactly what you are doing.
Are you an aspiring author thinking that by posting all or part of your creative efforts on your site you will attract a publisher? Who knows, you might become the next Stephen King, selling millions of copies of your book. But what will your publisher think when Yahoo asserts its 'perpetual and irrevocable' right to promote it's service with your writing, royalty-free?
So before you post that heartfelt poem, your latest artwork, or even a picture of your cat, think about the price you're paying for that free service. You might just decide to move your Home on the Web to a host that's less demanding. What should you look for in a Web hosting contract? Hoffman put it plainly, "Frankly, if it is just Web hosting, there ought to be no transfer of any rights to the host."
Got questions or comments? Post your thoughts and comments on the publishing bulletin board!
| Related and Referenced Links: |
Ivan Hoffman's Website
Lots of articles on copyright protection and Internet issues.
When Free is a Bad Deal
How a Web page about your cat could get you in more trouble than you realize.
The Boycott Yahoo Home Page
Find out the latest news in the boycott of Yahoo-Geocities.
There's No Free Lunch
About.com's guide to Graphic Design takes a look at the Yahoo/Geocities TOS and decides that you get what you pay for.
How much content do community sites "own"?
GeoCities home page builders are finding that before they can enter the new Yahoo-GeoCities site they have to agree to new terms of service--including one that some equate to signing away the rights to their intellectual property. From CNet.com
Yahoo Angers Homesteaders
Internet.com reports that angry Web developers are protesting revisions to the GeoCities terms of service.
Yahoo relents on GeoCities terms
Faced with a mushrooming boycott of its recently integrated Yahoo-GeoCities, the Terms of Service contract has been altered. From CNet.com
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