Can Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr Sell your Photos?

In December, Instagram updated its privacy policy, apparently saying it would sell photos uploaded to its site to advertisers. After users responded angrily, Instagram issued a follow-up statement claiming this was not its “intention”, but the confusion raised questions about who owns your online content.

The short answer is, you do. What you create and post online - photos, videos, Facebook statuses, tweets, blogs, comments and so on, are your Intellectual property and you own the copyright to them. But when you upload your content online, you grant the site hosting it a licence to use it.

Instagram’s new privacy policy states that by uploading photos to its servers, you automatically grant it a “royalty-free, worldwide licence” to modify photos, publicly display them and reproduce your images for any reason it sees fit. It also means it could sell your photos to advertisers. It has said it won’t, but don’t assume this means it never will.

Facebook, Twitter and Flickr’s terms are the same as Instagram’s. Each site can modify, adapt, distribute and use your public posts, comments, photos, videos, tweets and links in promotional material worldwide.

The only way to revoke a site’s licence to your content is to delete it, or close your accounts. Sites may keep back-up copies for a limited time, but can’t use it publicly.

It’s also worth noting that if another user reposts your photos, shares your links on Facebook or retweets you, those posts can still be used by the services in adverts and other places, even if you have deleted your account. You will need to ask that user to remove it if you want to revoke the licence.