To: All Guild Members
From: Graphic Artists Guild National
Date: July 1, 1999
Subject: Yahoo Rights Grab - Continued
Warning to Yahoo Subscriber & Potential Contributors!
Responding to pressure from subscribers, online service provider Yahoo modified its “terms of service“ yesterday. The new language however, does little to allay creators' concerns of Yahoo's unauthorized rights grab. The new offending language reads:
"8. CONTENT SUBMITTED TO YAHOO
Yahoo does not own Content you submit, unless we specifically tell you otherwise before you submit it. You license the Content to Yahoo as set forth below for the purpose of displaying and distributing such Content on our network of properties and for the promotion and marketing of our services. By submitting Content to any Yahoo property, you automatically grant, or warrant that the owner of such Content has expressly granted, 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...."
While Yahoo claims it is merely trying to acquire the rights it needs to be able to run its world wide web services, the language is still too broad and over-reaching. We will continue to keep you posted on this issue.
For further information, go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2286692,00.html
http://www.sitepowerup.com/boycottyahoo/boycottyahoo.htm
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/20518.html
