Re: Gmail's ToS (was Yale switching to Google Apps / Gmail)

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ethan Ackerman <eackerma () u washington edu>
Date: February 10, 2010 11:34:00 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Gmail's ToS (was Yale switching to Google Apps / Gmail)
Reply-To: eackerma () u washington edu

Greetings Dave,

Gmail's terms of service are rather different than the universal terms
discussed in previous threads, and they go right to the heart of this
question.

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/legal_notices.html   - says:

"Your Intellectual Property Rights
Google does not claim any ownership in any of the content, including
any text, data, information, images, photographs, music, sound, video,
or other material, that you upload, transmit or store in your Gmail
account. We will not use any of your content for any purpose except to
provide you with the Service."

The universal ToS previously discussed in earlier emails - at
http://www.google.com/accounts/TOS  - also says that the
service-specific terms govern over the universal terms:

"Your agreement with Google will also include the terms of any Legal
Notices applicable to the Services, in addition to the Universal
Terms... If there is any contradiction between what the Additional
Terms say and what the Universal Terms say, then the Additional Terms
shall take precedence in relation to that Service"


If you think about that, it makes sense - Picassa and youTube will
need a license to resize, insert ad snippets into, re-display, or
otherwise modify/reproduce/distribute a work - so they take one.
Since Gmail doesn't need a license to send text and unaltered files at
your direction, it disclaims a license.   It's not perfect, but it's
not "being evil."





On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 9:10 PM, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
> From: Doug Humphrey <doug () joss com>
> Date: February 10, 2010 9:07:56 PM EST
> To: dave () farber net
> Cc: "ip" <ip () v2 listbox com>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Re: Good read Yale switching to Google Apps / Gmail
>
> /www.google.com/accounts/TOS?hl=en
>
> <quote>
>
> 11.    Content licence from you
>
> 11.1    You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in
>
> Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.
>
> By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a
>
> perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive
>
> licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly
>
> perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit,
>
> post or display on or through, the Services. This licence is for the
>
> sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the
>
> Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the
>
> Additional Terms of those Services.
>
> </quote>
>
> Ok, so Google isn't claiming copyright, they're just getting an
> irrevocable and royalty-free right to all your stuff, via language that
> that can be stretched around anything they want to use it for.  How's
> that really any better?
>
> exactly my point as well!
> I am not saying they are taking MY rights, but by sending an
> email to joe saying "hey, do you realize that when you X the Y you get Z?"
> I am giving them license to "when you X the Y you get Z"?
> in fact, it would be interesting to know if you mention something,
> in private email with someone else, if you go for a patent on it,
> or if you go to execute an exclusive license agreement with someone,
> is there a difficulty because you have given a non-exclusive license to
> it to Google simply by mentioning it in an email message on their service?
> Even if it was just a message TO YOURSELF as a reminder note?
> doug
>
>
>
>
> Archives




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