News February 27, 2018

Using Vero? Be very careful before you post any music, vids or pics

There’s a new Instagram competitor on the block, and the promise of a chronological feed, no ads (for now), no algorithms (for now) and a few other nifty features had been enough to see people flood the nascent platform over the past 48 hours, causing the whole thing to crash, lock people out, and basically collapse under the weight of millions of frustrated ‘gram users.

Still, it’s got people talking.

https://twitter.com/verotruesocial/status/967511842271744000

While this is an early stumbling block, a more sinister feature of the platform is lurking in the T&Cs: the fact that they can use anything you post on the site in anyway they see fit, royalty free, inside or outside the platform, “without limitation”, for as long as they wish.

Here’s the troubling part, in italics for your pleasure, with the best/worst bits in bold.

3. User Content Ownership and License
As between you and Vero, you retain any and all right, title and interest in and to the User Content you create, post, or otherwise make available through the Service. We claim no ownership rights over your User Content.

In accordance with your choice of the privacy settings offered by the Service, by posting or otherwise making available any User Content on or through the Service, you hereby grant, and you represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to grant, to Vero a limited, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, list information regarding, translate, distribute, syndicate, publicly perform, publicly display, make derivative works of, or otherwise use your User Content, including (without limitation) your name, voice, and/or likeness as it is contained within your User Content, in whole or in part, and in any form, media or technology, whether now known or hereafter developed.

Whoa. Basically, they are free to exploit your intellectual copyright in anyway they wish. If The Veronicas post a photo of the two of them, it could feasibly appear on a massive billboard in Times Square (or Toowoomba) promote Vero and they can’t do jack.

The next section tries to soften the previous part, although it’s not too comforting after that run of scary verbs.

This license is being used by Vero solely as necessary to provide the Service, and for such other limited uses identified in our Privacy Policy. This license is not being used by Vero to sell your User Content to third parties or otherwise profit off of your User Content in any way unrelated to Vero providing and promoting the Service, and it does not give Vero any rights to own your User Content or limit your ability to use your User Content however you wish outside of the Service.

You also hereby grant each User of the Service a non-exclusive license to access your User Content through the Service, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform such User Content as permitted through the functionality of the Service and under this Agreement.

So, they won’t sell your content to PepsiCo, which is sweet of them, but still, tread safe.

For comparison’s sake, here are the relevant Facebook and Instagram T&Cs, which are much more reasonable.

Instagram