Is government aware Facebook gets licence to uploaded content? asks Delhi High Court

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday said "it appears" that when anything was uploaded on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter the websites got a licence to the intellectual property rights of the content without paying any royalty and asked the Centre whether it was aware of this.

"It appears there are certain settings by which a user of social media can opt to restrict use of intellectual property rights (IPR). It also appears there can be grant of IPR licence of the content uploaded," a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said.

"Is government aware of it?" the court asked following which Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain sought time to place before it the "exact nature" of contract entered into by the government and its departments with social media sites.

The court also said when the government gives royalty free licence to Facebook without anything in return, "it was aking to (giving) state largesse" and asked the ASG to place before it, by July 30, the exact nature of the contract it has entered into with the social media sites.

The bench, during the hearing, observed that technology has advanced so fast that people and the government in India have not understood it.

"If they don't understand it, they will miss the bus," it said and suggested upgrading of National Informatics Centre.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by former BJP leader KN Govindacharya, through advocate Virag Gupta, who has raised questions on usage of social media by government departments.

During the hearing, the court asked Facebook whether there was a setting by which a user can decide not to share content with anyone and can also opt not to give licence of material uploaded to the site.

After the lawyer for Facebook sought time to respond to the query, the court told the Centre,"If there is no such setting, you are giving them a world wide licence to use the content, royalty free" and suggested that the government enter into a special contract with such sites.

The court said it was not on whether Facebook's (FB) terms and conditions are right or wrong.

"We have nothing to do with FB. You (FB) have your terms and conditions to operate an account. It is the government which has to take a conscious decision.

"We are only on whether government has given away the licence for the Facebook content," it said.

It also said even after content is deleted, it will remain with Facebook until all other users who have shared the material also delete it and added "once its on the internet, then its there forever".

Govindacharya, in his plea, has contended government departments like Delhi Police and Indian Railways are not entitled to create accounts on social networking sites.

He has also sought recovery of taxes from the websites on their income from operations in India.