Cafe Press Has a (Moderately) Evil New User Agreement

Hey! Enki has moved his blog to Armyofevilrobots.com. Check it out after you are done here. This page is going nowhere though...

Looks like CafePress.com has a new license agreement. Some of the legalese grants CafePress the right to use your trademarks/copyrighted material without attribution. Also, they can continue to sell it even after you cancel your account (account cancellation does not abrogate the agreement, see section 6.3. I especially love the fact that reading the new agreement, constitutes agreeing to it (since it resides on the web site, and use of the site constitutes agreement). I have my doubts about the enforcability of this thing.

Because of the backlash from this new agreement (most of it due to a related mis-interpretation), CafePress has issued a clarification, which contains a completely different line item for 6.3 (that being the current licensing agreement), which is WAY less Draconian. So it looks like the thing they are trying to get you calmed down about just hasn't gone into effect yet.

Current Agreement:
6.3 If you submit content to CafePress.com (on a message board, in connection with your participation in a CafePress.com contest or otherwise) you hereby grant CafePress.com a perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide, nonexclusive right and license to use such content (or any portion thereof) on the CafePress.com Web Site and in email "newsletters" to promote or advertise any of your Shops or the CafePress.com Service, with or without identifying the content as yours.

or this one?

Their "Clarification":
6.3 You grant CafePress.com permission to reproduce your Party Marks in CafePress.com marketing and advertising, provided CafePress.com credits you and/or the original artist as actual owner of the Party Marks. CafePress.com will not represent ownership of any of your designs.

Keep in mind this part too:

12.3 This Agreement will survive indefinitely unless and until Cafepress.com chooses to terminate it, regardless of whether any account you open is terminated by you or Cafepress.com.

Posted by Enki at June 5, 2003 09:55 AM | TrackBack