When you are using Tinder, not only are you agreeing to their Terms and Conditions, but also Facebook’s, and combining one of the cyber-world’s biggest powerhouses with Tinder, reduces your protection of copyrights and intellectual property significantly.
Terms and Conditions have almost become a novelty, each time you scroll down and click ACCEPT, you laugh to yourself thinking ‘who actually reads that?’ But would you sign a professional contract without reading between the lines? And professionals are advising that we should be doing the same with our sign-ups to apps, websites and other agreements. (Smithers, 2011)
The T&C’s of Tinders user agreement, , state that ‘You grant Tinder, Co. and its affiliates a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free license and right to copy, transmit, distribute, publicly perform and display (through all media now known or hereafter created), and make derivative works from your content. In addition, you waive any so-called “moral rights” in your content.’ (Tinder, 2014) Along with Facebook’s Terms and Conditions, which state ‘you specifically give us the following permission, you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook.’ Thus between both parties, the work you produce becomes their work, in which they can distribute world-wide royalty free, making your intellectual property, public. With your thoughts and ideas not necessarily being yours anymore, the question arises about the future of copyright and protecting individuals intellectual property.
Prosumerism is how Tinder functions, people creating profiles and actively engaging in conversation or ‘playing.’ It relies on people sharing ideas and working together, contributing to Tinder’s success. However, if intellectual property is immediately stripped from the user, the future of Tinder will not be so bright. I suppose it is all in the Terms and Conditions…
Read carefully!
References
Rebecca Smithers, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/may/11/terms-conditions-small-print-big-problems, 11/05/11, accessed 23/03/14
Tinder Terms and Conditions, http://www.gotinder.com/terms/, accessed 23/03/14
Facebook Terms and Conditions, https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms, accessed 19/03/14
Aaron George, App Empire, http://www.appempire.com/top-5-legal-issues-facing-app-developers/, accessed 22/03/14
Oxford English Dictionary, ‘prosumer,’ http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/prosumer, accessed 23/03/14
Identity Theft Tips, http://identitytheft-reality.com/wordpress/virus-news/how-much-does-tinder-know-about-you, 04/10/13, accessed 23/03/14
A Worldly Addiction 