In what looks like an act of conveniently looking the other way, social networking site Facebook doesn't seem to mind that a new Facebook fad is violating the site's terms of service. If you are a self-respecting Facebooker, you must have come across a bunch of people changing their profile pictures during "Doppelganger Week," in which people change their picture to that of the celebrity they think they resemble. While this is allowing a busload of people to unabashedly proclaim that they resemble the world's hottest celebrities, it also flies in the face of the Facebook terms of service. As CNET reports, the legalese states explicitly:
"You will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else's rights or otherwise violates the law... We can remove any content or information you post on Facebook if we believe that it violates this Statement." So unless you took that celebrity photo yourself or bought the rights to it, it's probably infringing on someone's copyright.
But while you were explicitly violating FB terms of service by changing your profile picture to that of Darth Vader and then to Angelina Jolie before settling on Lassie, the social network didn't really think it was an issue. Reports CNET:
"Users are responsible for the content they post, but as always, Facebook will respond to requests for removal that it receives from copyright holders," spokeswoman Brandee Barker said in an e-mail to CNET. "In this case, we have received no such requests."
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