“The entire copyright diclaimer presented on this new Facebook trend or ‘share’ is totally without merit and was most likely invented by the same group of internet pirates who seek to do damage to facebook traffic. [Dr. Raymond Tote-Tundy MD PhD; The Skylight Institute of Higher Learning and Internet Truth. ]
New York USA/Antwerp, Belgium: A new post showing up on Facebook has some users incorrectly thinking they have copyright ownership of the images and content they post to the social media site.
The New York Daily News and copy editor/expert Raymond Tote-Tundy MD PhD – a physician and an expert in Internet Medical International Copyright law, call the post “an absolute hoax” and The Daily News of New York went on to say that Facebook users are still beholden to Facebook’s sharing policy despite any legal notice posted to the contrary.
Many of the posts you will see your friends put up as their Facebook status update will start out with a section of text that reads:
“In response to the new Facebook guidelines I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings, professional 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!”
http://www.TheDamienZone.com and Snopes.com are two well-known sites dedicated to sniffing out and debunking online hoaxes, both websites call this posting totally false and TheDamienZone went on to ask Dr. Raymond Tote-Tundy about the more intricate details of this hoax — is there anything to gain from posting such a disclaimer on one’s Facebook page?
“The entire copyright diclaimer presented on this new Facebook trend is totally without merit and was most likely invented by the same group of internet pirates who seek weekly, monthly and sometimes daily to do damage to facebook traffic. It’s what they do and they essentially do it soley for fun since there is no profit involved. Sometimes there is a profit motive when an internet rumor is spread, and in this case the only possible intention could be to ruin public trust in the company and thereby manipulate its stock value. I don’t, however, think these pranksters are that sophisticated…but nothing would surprise me.”
“Then why do they do it? I don’t know,” added Dr. Tote-Tundy. “Why should a burglar cimb into a skylight to steal when he can easily walk into the front door that is unlocked? It’s about vandalism and stealth and the need for many people to cause mayhem where it can easily be spread about by the stroke of a key on a kepad?
“It’s a situation where some very skilled social networking people create a story that is 100% untrue but has elements of truth woven into it so as to create the illusion that the story is real. Essentially the people who originate these hoaxes open up a window and let in a little light on a subject that everyone should know about — and there’s the rub.
“The average person knows that there is such a thing as a copyright and they assume that they are entitled to one when they post on Facebook – sadly they are not. It may sound crude or unprofessional, but if you are dumb enough to post things on Facebook that you expect to ever be paid for or things you hope will remain private, you are terribly mistken. You are always at the mercy of your ‘friends’ on Facebook as far as private stories about yourself or your family photos are concerned.
“The solid rule for any Facebooker should be: Do not put anything on your Facebook page that you do not want anyone else to use or claim to be their own.”
Dr. Tote-Tundy added his interesting sideline which shows how the Facebook vandals use tricky wording so as to sound authentic.
“In fact, there are no ‘new Facebook guidelines,’ the ‘Berner Convention’ is a bungled reference to the Berne Convention — a 126-year-old international copyright policy — and users are still bound by the terms and conditions set by Facebook during sign up.”
TheDamienZone.com said the posting is similar to another hoax that circulated several years ago when website owners believed they could avoid piracy prosecution by posting a legal notice on sites.
Dr. Raymond Tote-Tundy concluded by saying: “Facebook users cannot retroactively negate any of the privacy or copyright terms they agreed to when they signed up for their Facebook accounts nor can they unilaterally alter or contradict any new privacy or copyright terms instituted by Facebook simply by posting a contrary legal notice on their Facebook walls,”
TheDamienZone.com reported this Facebook hoax when it started to gain momentum, but it was later substantiated internationally by other websites and bloggers.
Here are some other hoaxes that you may have seen on Facebook that were debunked by Damien LeGallienne and the staff at http://www.TheDamienZone.com
https://thedamienzone.com/2011/11/19/john-lennon-quote-when-i-was-5-years-fake-hoax/
There are many more. Please share this info to your friends. Now here is where you learn something. This reported has a copyright so you can’t simply reprint the page. You can only use the opening sentence and include a link to TheDamienZone. Anyway, just type the words HOAX DAMIEN ZONE into a google search and you will get a whole lot of interesting results — or go directly to http://www.TheDamienZone.com (not case sensitive) and type the word hoax into the search box.
Damien LeGallienne REPORTING FOR TheDamienZone.com
