Service Contract

[cascader]

I was just about to lazily click the terms and agreements contract link;
I Agree: I have read the Service Agreement and agree to its terms and conditions.,
when I realised that there was I portion of the agreement that might interest me. Would anybody care to help me interpret the portion listed below ? I am an Aussie BTW, and as such am bound by Aussie laws.

3. OWNERSHIP

The website and all intellectual property rights related to the website, including but not limited to copyrights, trademarks, service marks and any feedback left by users on the website, are owned or licensed by xxxxxxxxxx, and all right, title and interest in the website and the related intellectual property rights remain the property of xxxxxxxxxx. You may not reproduce, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, modify or create derivative works with respect to the website or any related intellectual property, including any services provided via the xxxxxxxxxx website.

I guess my main interest would be that, if I was to say, successfully sell some freelance writing jobs, which might mean posting said writings to their site, would I lose some portion of the ownership of these writings. As it states in the contract, and any feedback left by users on the website. What sort constitutes feedback ? My response to a prospective customer ? Who might want a preview before making up his mind ? Am I just being paranoid ? Orwellian fear supplanting reason ?

thanks, Cascade

[r00tintheb0x]

I'd use an alternate form of contact for those types of things (AIM, MSN, etc...)

[cascader]

That's good, excepting I do not use AIM or MSN, or GAIM or ICQ et al. I've never gotten the hang of using that type of software.

Thanks, Cascade

BTW, no need for any OT posts, thanks anyways . . . would just like a few ppls thoughts on this service contract thing. If I don't get any replies, no problem, plenty of ways to skin an apple (or whatever that saying is . . .) ;-)

[r00tintheb0x]

To sum your question up...

"main interest would be that, if I was to say, successfully sell some freelance writing jobs, which might mean posting said writings to their site, would I lose some portion of the ownership of these writings."

Yes, if its on the site its somewhat Ubuntu's/the ubuntu communities.

[cascader]

Thanks, r00 . . .

That's what I was sort of trying to get at. BTW, I wasn't actually referring to any Ubuntu sites, this I got from a freelance journalism type site, where a writers wares get matched with buyers.

Cascade

[r00tintheb0x]

Yeah, then beware.

[cascader]

Ok . . . one more question while I am here . . . do you have any suggestions as to where I maybe should have posted this question ?

[pmasiar]

As usual, when you post something to a website someone else owns, owner decides the rules.

If you want to post and retain ownership, get own website. pbwiki.com allows you to have own wiki and IIRC :-) you retain ownership - and post links to your own pages.

Like I have here: http://learnPython.pbwiki.com/

[gus sett]

It's a good question, though I'm responding to find out
more about your avatar. There was a music group in the
U.S. popular a few years back called the Alan Parsons Project
and they had a similar logo with their album Eye in
the Sky. Is there a story behind it in Australia :?:

I shun red tape myself, but often legal boundaries in new
and gray areas have some basis in conventional wisdom.
Postings on the Internet generally fall under public domain
guidelines, but the website owner(s) has/have some editorial
responsibilities because they are essentially broadcasters.
To allow participants some flexibility, there are the usual
disclaimers you find with editorial/advertising announcements
found in TV broadcasting. Remember, you retain abilities
to edit your remarks too, and you are acknowledged
to the degree you allow yourself to be as the author.
Myself, I think your caution level is appropriate, and
when these matters of question come up, the parties
should check with each other courteously:KS


I was just about to lazily click the terms and agreements contract link;
I Agree: I have read the Service Agreement and agree to its terms and conditions.,
when I realised that there was I portion of the agreement that might interest me. Would anybody care to help me interpret the portion listed below ? I am an Aussie BTW, and as such am bound by Aussie laws.

3. OWNERSHIP

The website and all intellectual property rights related to the website, including but not limited to copyrights, trademarks, service marks and any feedback left by users on the website, are owned or licensed by xxxxxxxxxx, and all right, title and interest in the website and the related intellectual property rights remain the property of xxxxxxxxxx. You may not reproduce, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, modify or create derivative works with respect to the website or any related intellectual property, including any services provided via the xxxxxxxxxx website.

I guess my main interest would be that, if I was to say, successfully sell some freelance writing jobs, which might mean posting said writings to their site, would I lose some portion of the ownership of these writings. As it states in the contract, and any feedback left by users on the website. What sort constitutes feedback ? My response to a prospective customer ? Who might want a preview before making up his mind ? Am I just being paranoid ? Orwellian fear supplanting reason ?

thanks, Cascade

[cascader]

Ok, thanks for the feedback gus . . . that's some good feedback you're giving me there, appreciated . . . the avatar I'm afraid is a bit of an arbitrary choice, altho The Alan Parsons Project were a big hit here as well with this album way back in the 80s I think, might have even been the 70s . . . I'll have to check it out, make sure I'm not breaching any copyrights (he he).

And thanks, pmasiar, that's a nice looking site you have going there, might inspire me toward giving python a go, heard nothing but good feedback about it. Also, as stated, I like the way the general site design, HTML is something I like creating in, good to see a well designed (uncluttered) site.

Can't work out why my OS comes up as "Edubuntu" on the side of my posts, I'm just using plain old vanilla Edgy . . .

[samjh]

Cascader,

One of the more important rules of interpreting a contract is to see the contract as a whole. Receiving any kind of advice about a contract after showing only a small portion of it, can be misleading and legally dangerous.

If you have serious doubts about the agreement, then consult a lawyer. Queensland Legal Aid offices provide free help for one-off consultations - just phone them on 1300 65 11 88 and ask for an appointment.

In Australia, the usual rule is that the creator of any work holds the copyright for that work, unless otherwise agreed. There are exceptions, but literary works are included in that rule.

Take a careful look at the clause, particular at this part:

The website and all intellectual property rights related to the website, including but not limited to copyrights, trademarks, service marks and any feedback left by users on the website, are owned or licensed by xxxxxxxxxx, and all right, title and interest in the website and the related intellectual property rights remain the property of xxxxxxxxxx.They have their bases pretty much covered, but notice that there is a "hole", quoted in bold:

are owned or licensed by xxxxxxxxxxYou will need to ask the website owners, but that seems to indicate that if your writing is already published under your own copyright, then they may need to license the copyright from you. Contact the owner of the website (preferably through a lawyer) in order to clearly define - in writing - just how the ownership and licensing of copyright works, with respect to their website. You need to clearly establish your legal position, in case problems arise in the future.

Keep in mind also, that if the website is located outside of Australia, then foreign laws may apply.

You may be interested in http://www.copyright.org.au/ for more information about copyright matters.

[cascader]

Ok, great feedback there samjh. The portion of the contract that you quoted is exactly the part that interested me the most, and, like yourself, came to the conclusion that very much all the angles are covered here.

Good practical advice tho. As far as I understand, it is pretty easy to provide ones own works with copyright, (or perhaps copyleft, as the case may be). Cheers . . .

[gus sett]

copyright or copyleft
i n n o c u l a t e
thwart copy theft =;
:wink: