We've probably had enough of this now, but I thought you'd be interested in
Yahoo!s reply to my letter to them. And all credit: they did bother to reply.
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Subject: Re: Is our material copyright ? (KMM4756272C0KM)
Author: Yahoo Copyright <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 03/07/99 09:47
Yahoo! does not claim ownership of the content on your site. We never
have.
One of the terms in the Yahoo! Terms of Service grants us the license
(in other words, gives us your consent) to use the content on your
GeoCities site. We ask for this license to do the job of serving your
pages to the world, but Yahoo! agrees to the following rules with
respect to the content on your GeoCities site:
* You license your content to Yahoo! so that we can display the content
on your GeoCities site and promote the Yahoo! GeoCities services.
* The license exists for as long as you continue to be a Yahoo!
GeoCities homesteader, no longer.
* Yahoo! has the right to reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, and create
derivative works of your content only for the purpose of hosting your
GeoCities site and providing and promoting the Yahoo! GeoCities service.
Some people have asked if under these rules Yahoo! can do things like
publish a book or make a movie using your Yahoo! GeoCities homepage
content. We cannot.
We intend for these rules to be legally binding on Yahoo!. And, as the
lawyers say, to the extent that any of these rules conflict with or
modify the Yahoo! Terms of Service, these rules will prevail.
Folks, please know that we've built our network of services and tools by
committing ourselves to our users. Starting in the early days of the Web
with the Yahoo! directory, we've always made it our job to respond to
your needs. We understand that we owe any success to you. We have no
intention of violating the trust that we've built with you over the
years.
We're blessed to be working in an industry in which, on a daily basis,
we hear the good and the bad directly from people like you. We listen
when you talk to us. The recent merger of Yahoo! and GeoCities does not
(and will not) change that.
We understand your recent concerns, but there are some very basic and
important reasons why an online company such as Yahoo! asks for such a
license.
For starters, we use many computers to serve to the world the millions
of GeoCities home pages. In order to display your pages quickly and not
lose any of your content (say, in a computer crash), we often need to
copy your files onto more than one computer. Very simply, the license
assures that we can do this.
In addition, if we choose to promote your page on the top of Yahoo!
GeoCities, or anywhere else on the Yahoo! network (even, for example, in
a marketing promotion of Yahoo!'s many services), we need to reproduce
the content. Again, the license assures that we can do this.
There are many times when we use other companies to help us serve web
pages on our global network. Sometimes information is changed as it is
served to the world. For example, if your page contains images in JPEG
format and the other company's service uses GIF format, your images may
need to be adapted to fit in.
These are just a few reasons. Also keep in mind that the Yahoo!
GeoCities Terms of Service (which have been standard on the Yahoo!
network) are very similar to the terms of service of many major Web
sites and online services, including other home page providers.
We feel the recent merger of Yahoo! and GeoCities will provide many
exciting opportunities for our users, but if you'd rather not keep your
home page with us we, obviously, will respect your wishes.
Please visit this URL and we will remove your home page and account as
soon as possible.
http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/geo/cgi_remove
If you feel that we may have sent you an inappropriate response to your
question or comment, please respond to this e-mail and let us know.
Thank you for your time,
The Yahoo! Team
2123218
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