Having persuaded both MySpace and Bebo to change the terms and conditions of their music services to clarify that ownership of tracks posted on artist pages remain with the artist, Billy Bragg has now turned his attention to MTV's new and previously reported social networking service MTV Flux - does he spend his whole life surfing the net for dodgy t+cs? Anyway, Bragg claims that the terms and conditions of the new service, which, like MySpace and Bebo, allows registered users to upload their own original audio or video content, are ambiguous as to who owns the copyright on uploaded content. You can see him discussing his concerns on his website - http://www.billybragg.co.uk.
However, MTV dispute the singer's claims, saying their existing terms quite clearly state that users maintain the ownership of their copyrights when they upload content to their Flux service. Writing on the Media Guardian website, MTV's UK VP Of Legal, Nayeem Syed, says: "Although Mr Bragg says that most artists are 'unlikely to read the terms and conditions with which they are required to agree before joining the service' we would actively encourage them to do so because they would come across an important passage which he chose not to mention. Namely, 'By uploading or sending any material to us ... you continue to retain ownership of such material and may continue to use the content outside the website'".
That said, Bragg's specific concern is over the term which says users who upload their content must "waive" their "moral rights" over their content. This is included because part of the Flux concept is that content uploaded to the MTV website might also appear on the MTV Flux TV channel (ie giving participants TV as well as online exposure). While that concept is probably a good one, Bragg worries that that term implies MTV is claiming some kind of ownership of uploaded content.
On that specific concern, Syed continues: "It is accepted practice to ask artists to "waive" - not assign - their moral rights. Otherwise, we couldn't even shorten any material in terms of length or to suit the medium in which it is broadcast. The terms and conditions are clear and clearly protect anyone who uploads content to MTV Flux. Had Mr Bragg read them fully, there would have been no room for his misunderstanding. Furthermore they are consistent with the other main broadcasters. But let's make one thing very clear - the rights remain with the individual".
In Bragg's defence, I think his point is that while the terms might have been written in good faith, and while they might make complete sense to Ms Syed, given that the people who will sign up to Flux are not likely to be completely up to speed with legal jargon and all that nonsense, they can't really be expected to interpret the small print in the same way as MTV's legal team - ie without suspicion. Whether Bragg will accept Syed's reassurances on the matter, or whether he'll push for changes in the actual terms to ensure clarification, remains to be seen.