Dropbox and Your Copyright

[IRJH]

while hysteria is going strong, just realize that noone, really noone, really wants your texts (other than if it was Harry Potter etc.). they are groundbreaking for sure, but the world has other things to care about. if dropbox would manage to publish mine I would be happy. But, actually, that is not their scope, believe it or not. But, yeah, hysteria is better than nothing to worry about. get a life.

[robertdguthrie]

That's a rather rude way to put it. Plus, if your primary way of earning a living is by writing words that you want to have a constant backup of... then it's not paranoia; it's justifiable caution.

[bodsham]

Some of us have commissioned work too. Imagine how a publisher would react if your private project for them got leaked. I don't imagine Dropbox would do that. But a few weeks ago all the security on DB was down for something like four hours. During that time anyone could have got into txt exports of my current, commercially-commissioned project, and snatched copies.

Unlikely? Maybe. Worth the risk? Definitely not. Wuala is just fine for me.

[IRJH]

God, just cannot believe this. last hint from me: * Dropbox * is * NOT * a publishing company *. Dream on they will steal and publish your stuff... or cool down, use Dropbox or don't, but do not discredit this excellent service others just can dream of.

[Hugh]

DropBox is an excellent service, and I'm sure it's run by nice people completely uninterested in what we may use it for. But those terms of service -- lately amended? -- certainly clarified -- were a PR shocker if nothing else. You have to wonder how the company could have let them out into the bright light of day, and they certainly fuel the suspicion not that DB would itself exploit users' work but that the company was trying to ensure it would be legally protected if others -- a disaffected employee, perhaps, or hackers - did so. Perhaps not an unreasonable thing to do, from the company's point of view, if one ignored the PR. I know media lawyers who'd insist on such protection. But from a user's point of view with the products of one's sweat metaphorically in the clouds it seems to me entirely reasonable to prepare for the worst even while hoping for the best. After all, until a few months ago nobody, not even a cynical old hack like me, believed that one of the biggest media organisations in the world might casually be hacking phones by the thousand...

[bodsham]

For me this isn't about Dropbox. It's about whether I want confidential information available in easily readable form on any kind of cloud service. Systems go wrong (as they did with DB very recently). They also get hacked. I'm no longer prepared to take that risk. I will only use cloud services if they allow me to store confidential information in an encrypted state that only I can unlock.

Thinking about it I can't quite believe I allowed it in the first place. But the ease of DB and its newness were very tempting. But if others feel differently that's their prerogative. It's a personal choice.

[Novelist]

just my personal opinion

this whole "depending" on Dropbox to sync was an ill advised strategy to start with.

Creative work handed over to one of the worst data miners in history. Ridiculous.

Lets hope LL down the road will offer a straight sync via cable without the need of any cloud services. Because the IOS app is really nice otherwise.

cheerio

[kewms]

Given that you've already expressed your views in detail in another thread, is there a reason why you're posting this again? In a thread that's been quiescent for five years?

(For those who haven't been following the other thread, it's here: viewtopic.php?f=53&t=34987&p=224371#p224371.)

Katherine

[Graybyrd]

just my personal opinion
Creative work handed over to one of the worst data miners in history. Ridiculous.

To quote from the DropBox service:

For our advanced users

Dropbox files at rest are encrypted using 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).

Dropbox uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) to protect data in transit between Dropbox apps and our servers; it's designed to create a secure tunnel protected by 128-bit or higher Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption.

Dropbox applications and infrastructure are regularly tested for security vulnerabilities and hardened to enhance security and protect against attacks.

Two-step verification is available for an extra layer of security at login.

There's no evidence of data-mining by DropBox. In my years of internet experience, I've never heard a valid accusation of such. Google, Facebook, MS? Yes, and they do so admittedly & unashamedly; but not so with DB. If there is any substantiated evidence to the contrary, I'd love to see it. As for DB internal access to user files stored on DB, that's a LEGAL requirement by the United States government. Anyone with a bone to pick in that area (which I do) should yell, scream, and curse at their elected representatives in that funny farm we call the US Congress to change US snooping laws to respect citizen privacy. Don't hold your breath, however. Asphyxiation will outpace any move by US lawmakers (who, incidentally, fail to enforce the few laws & regulations concerning NSA, CIA, DIA, DHS & FBI intrusions into citizen online communications.)

So don't scream at DB or L&L for the failings of our own government. It's no secret that US privacy protections are virtually non-existent; consider the responses of the EU community decrying the abuse of privacy rights by the US. But also, see how other nations are following (or leading) the stampede to monitor their citizens. Check out the UK/GCHQ mess, or the "Five Eyes" consortium. All that makes the DB compliance with possible FISA court-ordered security letters look quite innocuous.

Or wear a tinfoil hat. They're back in fashion thanks to the current election season.

[Portkey209]

It's been a couple of years now, but I was just wondering if there was an update on this question?

I know that my work is copyrighted as soon as I create it. And that it's ok to show a text to an editor or agent before I publish it because there's no incentive for them to steal. (I'm getting my info from this post). I'm assuming that the same would apply to Dropbox, but it would be nice to know if everyone's thinking on this has changed since this topic was first posted.

[kewms]

It's been a couple of years now, but I was just wondering if there was an update on this question?

I know that my work is copyrighted as soon as I create it. And that it's ok to show a text to an editor or agent before I publish it because there's no incentive for them to steal. (I'm getting my info from this post). I'm assuming that the same would apply to Dropbox, but it would be nice to know if everyone's thinking on this has changed since this topic was first posted.

Putting your work on Dropbox has *zero* implications for your rights as author. Under their Terms of Service, you do not give them permission to "publish" anything by merely placing it on their server.

The one exception would be if *you* publish the work using Dropbox as the venue, for example by distributing a link to a public Dropbox folder. But that would be an action explicitly authorized by you.

(As a practical matter, I also suspect that access to encryption keys by Dropbox employees is very tightly controlled, and that using those keys to go randomly snooping through user files is a firing offense.)

Katherine