As the tech platform prepares for a public offering, it says that most of its revenue is from advertising, but touts artificial intelligence as a growth area.
Of course in the past you could just overhear someone say something and use that info for free
But that’s the thing, either the information is in the public domain - in which case it is freely available and cannot be sold to anyone else - or the information is private. It can’t be both. They can’t say “you posted it on our platform, so it’s public and we don’t have to pay you” while simultaneously selling it to someone else.
If they’re selling it, then the author has a fair claim to it. Terms and conditions won’t hold water if no consideration has been given, and “free access to a website” does not meet that bar - especially when the access is granted regardless of whether you make the post.
You can take something from the public domain and sell it. There’s plenty of public domain books sold. It just means that everyone can access it and use it equally. You can record everything you overhear at the store and use it for writing a story or whatever.
Although what you say sounds true. These comments are written and signed, easily attributed to the owner. Every document like that in the past has been the property of the writer. Same thing with images. I don’t know how Reddit can claim any comments are legally theirs without “consideration” as you say.
But that’s the thing, either the information is in the public domain - in which case it is freely available and cannot be sold to anyone else - or the information is private. It can’t be both. They can’t say “you posted it on our platform, so it’s public and we don’t have to pay you” while simultaneously selling it to someone else.
If they’re selling it, then the author has a fair claim to it. Terms and conditions won’t hold water if no consideration has been given, and “free access to a website” does not meet that bar - especially when the access is granted regardless of whether you make the post.
You can take something from the public domain and sell it. There’s plenty of public domain books sold. It just means that everyone can access it and use it equally. You can record everything you overhear at the store and use it for writing a story or whatever.
Although what you say sounds true. These comments are written and signed, easily attributed to the owner. Every document like that in the past has been the property of the writer. Same thing with images. I don’t know how Reddit can claim any comments are legally theirs without “consideration” as you say.