Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Facebook: The Complex World of Facebook and Copyright

 

Facebook
Facebook

Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms, Inc., is a prominent American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg along with Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, it initially started as a social networking service known as "TheFacebook." Over the years, Facebook has evolved into a conglomerate that owns and operates various platforms and services, including the flagship Facebook platform, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp.

The Facebook platform allows users to create profiles, share updates, photos, and videos, connect with friends and family, join groups, and follow pages of interest. Instagram, acquired by Facebook in 2012, is a photo and video-sharing social networking service. Threads is a messaging app developed by Facebook for sharing photos, videos, messages, and Stories with close friends. WhatsApp is a messaging and voice-over-IP service acquired by Facebook in 2014.

In today's digital age, social media platforms like Facebook have become integral parts of our lives, facilitating connections, sharing experiences, and even serving as platforms for creativity. However, amidst the sea of posts, shares, and likes lies a complex web of copyright laws and issues that users must navigate carefully. In this blog post, we'll delve into the intricacies of copyright on Facebook, exploring what it means for users and how to avoid potential legal pitfalls.

Attribute

Description

Formerly

TheFacebook, Inc. (2004–2005)


Facebook, Inc. (2005–2021)

Company type

Public

Traded as

Nasdaq: META (Class A)


Nasdaq-100 component


S&P 100 component


S&P 500 component

Industry

Social media


Social network advertising


Consumer electronics


Virtual reality

Founded

January 4, 2004; 20 years ago in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.

Founders

Mark Zuckerberg


Eduardo Saverin


Andrew McCollum


Dustin Moskovitz


Chris Hughes

Headquarters

Menlo Park, California, U.S.

Area served

Worldwide

Key people

Mark Zuckerberg (Chairman and CEO)


Javier Olivan (COO)


Susan Li (CFO)


Andrew Bosworth (CTO)


Chris Cox (CPO)

Products

Facebook


Instagram


Messenger


Threads


WhatsApp


Meta Quest


Horizon Worlds


Ray-Ban Stories


Mapillary


Workplace


Portal (discontinued)


Diem (sold)

Revenue

Increase US$134.9 billion (2023)

Operating income

Increase US$46.75 billion (2023)

Net income

Increase US$39.10 billion (2023)

Total assets

Increase US$229.6 billion (2023)

Total equity

Increase US$153.2 billion (2023)

Owner

Mark Zuckerberg (13.68% of total shares and 61.2% of total voting power)

Number of employees

67,317 (2023)

Divisions

Reality Labs

Subsidiaries

Novi Financial

ASN

32934

Website

about.meta.com Edit this at Wikidata


Understanding Copyright

Copyright law grants creators the exclusive rights to their original works, such as writings, music, art, and photographs. This means that unless expressly permitted, others cannot reproduce, distribute, or publicly display these works without the creator's permission. While the internet has made sharing content easier than ever, it has also raised questions about the boundaries of copyright in the digital realm.

Copyright on Facebook

Facebook, being one of the largest social media platforms globally, is no stranger to copyright issues. Users frequently share a wide array of content, including articles, images, videos, and music. While Facebook provides tools for reporting copyright infringement, it's essential for users to understand what constitutes infringement and how to avoid it.

User-Generated Content

One of the primary concerns on Facebook is user-generated content. When you upload content to Facebook, you retain the copyright to that content. However, by posting it on the platform, you grant Facebook a broad license to use, display, and distribute your content. This license is necessary for Facebook to operate effectively, but it doesn't negate your ownership of the content.

Respecting Others' Rights

While you may hold the rights to the content you post, it's crucial to respect the rights of others. Sharing someone else's content without permission can lead to copyright infringement. This includes reposting articles, sharing images, or using music in videos without proper authorization. Even if you credit the original creator, it doesn't exempt you from copyright liability unless you have explicit permission.

Fair Use Doctrine

The concept of fair use allows for the limited use of copyrighted material without permission for purposes such as criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. However, determining whether a particular use qualifies as fair use can be subjective and depends on various factors, including the purpose of the use, the nature of the copyrighted.

Avoiding Copyright Issues

To avoid copyright issues on Facebook, there are several best practices to follow:

  1. Create Original Content: Whenever possible, create your own content rather than relying on others' work. This ensures that you retain full control over your creations and reduces the risk of infringing on someone else's copyright.

  2. Obtain Permission: If you want to use someone else's content, seek permission from the copyright owner first. This may involve contacting them directly or obtaining a license through a third-party service.

  3. Use Licensed Content: Alternatively, you can use content that is explicitly licensed for reuse, such as Creative Commons-licensed material. Just be sure to comply with the terms of the license, which may require attribution or prohibit commercial use.

  4. Understand Facebook's Policies: Familiarize yourself with Facebook's copyright policies and guidelines. This includes understanding how to properly report copyright infringement and how Facebook handles such reports.

  5. Give Credit Where Due: If you do use someone else's content with permission or under fair use, be sure to provide proper attribution. This not only respects the original creator's rights but also helps clarify the source of the content for others.


Year

Events

2021

- Rebrand as Meta: In response to intense scrutiny and whistleblower leaks, Facebook announced plans to rebrand the company. The transition to Meta Platforms was introduced at Facebook Connect, reflecting a shift in focus towards building the metaverse.


- Meta Trademark: The name "Meta" had been registered as a trademark in the United States by a Canadian company acquired by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. CZI decided to transfer the rights to Meta Platforms following the rebranding announcement.

2022

- Declining Profits: Meta reported a significant decline in profits for Q4 2021, with no growth in monthly users and anticipated revenue stall. Factors included competition for user attention, privacy measures by Apple, and competition from apps like TikTok.


- Revenue Decline: Meta saw a 27% reduction in share price, losing $230 billion in market capitalization. Zuckerberg's net worth dropped, and Meta's revenue declined by 1% in July 2022.


- Layoffs: Meta laid off 11,000 employees in November 2022, attributing the decline to increased competition, a global economic downturn, and "ads signal loss". Plans for further layoffs were announced in April 2023.

2023

- Layoffs and AI Focus: Meta announced another round of layoffs, cutting 10,000 employees and closing 5,000 open positions to improve efficiency. The company shifted focus to artificial intelligence, with the launch of its AI model Llama 2 and the announcement of AI as its biggest investment area in 2024.


- Threads Launch: Meta launched Threads, a competitor to Twitter, in July 2023.


- Ad-Free Service: Meta launched an ad-free service in Europe, allowing subscribers to opt-out of targeted advertising. Concerns were raised by European organizations regarding privacy protections.


- Stock Performance: Meta's stock performed well, reaching an all-time high in January 2024 and being one of the best-performing technology stocks of the year, with a share price increase of 150 percent.

2024

- Account Removal: Meta removed the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, citing violations of its policy on dangerous organizations and individuals.



Conclusion

Navigating the complex world of copyright on Facebook requires an understanding of the laws and best practices surrounding intellectual property. By respecting the rights of others, creating original content, and following Facebook's guidelines, users can enjoy sharing and engaging on the platform without running afoul of copyright laws. Ultimately, fostering a culture of respect for intellectual property benefits everyone, promoting creativity, innovation, and collaboration in the digital age.


Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as Meta, and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among other products and services. Meta ranks among the largest American information technology companies, alongside other Big Five corporations Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. The company was ranked #31 on the Forbes Global 2000 ranking in 2023.


Meta has also acquired Oculus (which it has integrated into Reality Labs), Mapillary, CTRL-Labs, and a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms; the company additionally endeavored into non-VR hardware, such as the discontinued Meta Portal smart displays line and presently partners with Luxottica through the Ray-Ban Stories series of smart glasses. Despite endeavors into hardware, the company relies on advertising for a vast majority of its revenue, amounting to 97.8 percent in 2023.


Parent company Facebook, Inc. rebranded as Meta Platforms, Inc. on October 28, 2021, to "reflect its focus on building the metaverse", an integrated environment linking the company's products and services. Facebook filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on January 1, 2012. The preliminary prospectus stated that the company sought to raise $5 billion, had 845 million monthly active users, and a website accruing 2.7 billion likes and comments daily. After the IPO, Zuckerberg would retain 22% of the total shares and 57% of the total voting power in Facebook.


Underwriters valued the shares at $38 each, valuing the company at $104 billion, the largest valuation to date for a newly public company. On May 16, one day before the IPO, Facebook announced it would sell 25% more shares than originally planned due to high demand. The IPO raised $16 billion, making it the third-largest in US history (slightly ahead of AT&T Wireless and behind only General Motors and Visa). The stock price left the company with a higher market capitalization than all but a few U.S. corporations—surpassing heavyweights such as Amazon, McDonald's, Disney, and Kraft Foods—and made Zuckerberg's stock worth $19 billion.


Trading in the stock, which began on May 18, was delayed that day due to technical problems with the Nasdaq exchange. The stock struggled to stay above the IPO price for most of the day, forcing underwriters to buy back shares to support the price. At the closing bell, shares were valued at $38.23, only $0.23 above the IPO price and down $3.82 from the opening bell value. The opening was widely described by the financial press as a disappointment. The stock nonetheless set a new record for trading volume of an IPO. On May 25, 2012, the stock ended its first full week of trading at $31.91, a 16.5% decline.

On May 22, 2012, regulators from Wall Street's Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced that they had begun to investigate whether banks underwriting Facebook had improperly shared information only with select clients rather than the general public.


Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin subpoenaed Morgan Stanley over the same issue. The allegations sparked "fury" among some investors and led to the immediate filing of several lawsuits, one of them a class action suit claiming more than $2.5 billion in losses due to the IPO. Bloomberg estimated that retail investors may have lost approximately $630 million on Facebook stock since its debut. Standard & Poor's added Facebook to its S&P 500 index on December 21, 2013.


On May 2, 2014, Zuckerberg announced that the company would be changing its internal motto from "Move fast and break things" to "Move fast with stable infrastructure". The earlier motto had been described as Zuckerberg's "prime directive to his developers and team" in a 2009 interview in Business Insider, in which he also said, "Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough. 2018–2020: Focus on the metaverse Lasso was a short-video sharing app from Facebook similar to TikTok that was launched on iOS and Android in 2018 and was aimed at teenagers. On July 2, 2020, Facebook announced that Lasso would be shutting down on July 10.


In 2018, the Oculus lead Jason Rubin sent his 50-page vision document titled "The Metaverse" to Facebook's leadership. In the document, Rubin acknowledged that Facebook's virtual reality business had not caught on as expected, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on content for early adopters. He also urged the company to execute fast and invest heavily in the vision, to shut out HTC, Apple, Google and other competitors in the VR space. Regarding other players' participation in the metaverse vision, he called for the company to build the "metaverse" to prevent their competitors from "being in the VR business in a meaningful way at all".


In May 2019, Facebook founded Libra Networks, reportedly to develop their own stablecoin cryptocurrency. Later, it was reported that Libra was being supported by financial companies such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Uber. The consortium of companies was expected to pool in $10 million each to fund the launch of the cryptocurrency coin named Libra. Depending on when it would receive approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory authority to operate as a payments service, the Libra Association had planned to launch a limited format cryptocurrency in 2021. Libra was renamed Diem, before being shut down and sold in January 2022 after backlash from government regulators and the public.


During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of online services including Facebook grew globally. Zuckerberg predicted this would be a "permanent acceleration" that would continue after the pandemic. Facebook hired aggressively, growing from 48,268 employees in March 2020 to more than 87,000 by September 2022.


Category

Information

Revenue Ranking

Facebook ranked No. 34 in the 2020 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue, with almost $86 billion in revenue.


Most of its revenue comes from advertising.

Advertising Revenue

One analysis of 2017 data determined that the company earned US$20.21 per user from advertising.

Losses after Rebranding

Meta reportedly lost $500 billion as a result of new privacy measures implemented by companies such as Apple and Google, which prevent Meta from gathering users' data.

Offices

- Users outside the US and Canada contract with Meta's Irish subsidiary, Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (formerly Facebook Ireland Limited), allowing Meta to avoid US taxes for all users in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and South America. Meta utilizes the Double Irish arrangement to pay 2–3% corporation tax on all international revenue.


- Facebook opened its fourth office in Hyderabad, India in 2010, which houses online advertising and developer support teams, providing support to users and advertisers. Facebook India Online Services Pvt Ltd is registered in India. Meta also has support centers in Chittagong, Dublin, California, Ireland, and Austin, Texas.


- Facebook opened its London headquarters in 2017 in Fitzrovia, central London, and an office in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2018. Initially, the offices were home to the "Connectivity Lab", focused on bringing Internet access to underserved areas.


- In April 2019, Facebook opened its Taiwan headquarters in Taipei.


- In March 2022, Meta opened new regional headquarters in Dubai.


- In September 2023, Meta paid £149 million to British Land to break the lease on its Triton Square London office, with 18 years remaining on the lease.

Data Centers

- As of 2023, Meta operated 21 data centers.


- Meta committed to purchasing 100% renewable energy and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2020.


- Its data center technologies include Fabric Aggregator, a distributed network system accommodating larger regions and varied traffic patterns.



FAQS about Facebook:


What is Facebook?

Facebook could be a social organizing stage that permits clients to associate with companions and family, share upgrades, photographs, and recordings, and find substance from around the world.

How do I make a Facebook account?

To make a Facebook account, visit the Facebook site or download the Facebook app, at that point take after the prompts to sign up along with your title, mail address, date of birth, and make a watchword.

Is Facebook free to utilize?

Yes, Facebook is free to use. Be that as it may, there may be discretionary highlights or administrations that require payment.

How do I alter my protection settings on Facebook?

You'll be able alter your protection settings by clicking on the descending bolt within the best right corner of Facebook, selecting "Settings & Security," and after that choosing "Privacy Checkup." From there, you'll control who can see your posts, who can send you companion demands, and other protection alternatives.

What ought to I do in case I disregard my Facebook secret word?

On the off chance that you disregard your Facebook secret word, you'll tap on the "Overlooked Watchword?" interface on the login page and take after the enlightening to reset your watchword utilizing your email address or phone number related together with your account.

How can I report improper substance or behavior on Facebook?

In the event that you come across inappropriate substance or behavior on Facebook, you'll report it by clicking on the three specks (...) next to the post or profile, at that point selecting "Discover back or report post" and taking after the prompts to report it to Facebook's moderators.

Can I deactivate or erase my Facebook account?

Yes, you'll deactivate or erase your Facebook account. Deactivating your account temporarily hides your profile and substance, whereas erasing your account forever removes it from Facebook. You'll find these alternatives within the "Settings & Protection" area.

How do I piece somebody on Facebook?

To square somebody on Facebook, go to their profile, press on the three dabs (...) following to their title, and select "Block." You'll too piece somebody by progressing to your settings, selecting "Blocking," and including their title or e-mail address.

What is Facebook Commercial center?

Facebook Commercial center is a highlight that permits clients to purchase and offer things locally. It's available through the Facebook app or site and lets users browse postings, message dealers, and arrange transactions.

Is Facebook accessible in other dialects?

Yes, Facebook is accessible in numerous dialects. You'll be able change the language settings by going to the "Settings & Security" section and selecting "Dialect." From there, you'll be able select your favored dialect.

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