Master thesis »Publication of images on social networks and copyright« is intended to analyse social networks' terms of use, relevant to copyright on uploaded images. Terms of use provide that certain rights on user-generated content are granted to social networks, which many users are not aware of.
A contractual relationship between the user and the social network needs to be established for rights to be legally granted, which happens during registration. The offer that is accepted by the user includes the terms of use, which begs the question of the validity of such contract from the viewpoint of Slovenian law. The next step is to examine validity of individual provisions, pertaining to copyright, and its compliance with Slovenian Copyright and Related Rights Act. Based on these provisions, social networks are granted a wide range of rights to use user-generated content, without royalties for the user.
Actions of other users with published images can be also problematic (e.g. sharing). Moreover, publishing copyrighted photos without the author's permission can be a violation of copyright law, unless the user's actions are covered by one of the legally provided exceptions. Even though the user is responsible for such violations, responsibility of the social network as an internet service provider can also arise, if certain conditions are fulfilled.
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