How is InfinityFree use of user site content limited by the TOS?

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I’ve seen questions about the TOS related to user content (e.g. from the TOS section " With Respect to User Content (Other Than User Submissions)"), but since the TOS have changed since then (the post was from '18), I have a question about the current TOS. The following clause is unclear to me (a non-lawyer), but seems to give Infinity Free etc licenses etc well beyond those simply needed to serve the content on a website. If I am mistaken about this, please clarify and I will be happy to use your services.

“You hereby grant InfinityFree a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, combine with other works, display, and perform your User Content in connection with this Site, the Services and InfinityFree’s (and InfinityFree’s affiliates’) business(es), including without limitation for promoting and redistributing all or part of this Site in any media formats and through any media channels without restrictions of any kind and without payment or other consideration of any kind, or permission or notification, to you or any third party.”

Particularly the part re “use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, combine with other works” seems problematic, unless “in connection with this Site, the Services and InfinityFree’s (and InfinityFree’s affiliates’) business(es)” limits those uses to whatever is needed simply to serve the content on a user’s hosted site. In particular, it’s unclear why rights to “derivative works” would be needed just to serve content as-is (e.g. compression or simple reformatting is not derivation AFAIK).

In particular, that clause seems somewhat to override the clause “If you have a website or other content hosted by InfinityFree, you shall retain all of your ownership or licensed rights in User Content.”, since as creator of that content, I can set any license I choose, which can limit use by anyone including my hosting provider, beyond “use” (as an end-user) and “distribute” (as a hosting provider, to end-users as required by that service).

Thanks for your help to better understand the TOS.

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So this means you are the owner of all the files you have a license to (you own) and have uploaded to the Service.

This means that the Service is able to use your work however they see fit. However, it DOES NOT change the ownership of any such files.

Basically, you own the file, InfinityFree can do whatever they want with it (To prevent a lawsuit where someone says “hey, I did not want to you show file x to person y!”).

The above is my interpretation of the quotations you provided. I am not a legal expert, and do not give legal advice. Please consult a licensed attorney for legal advice.

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The clause is maybe broader than it actually needs to be given our current intentions, but it’s mostly intended to avoid any debate about what is reasonable use.

For example, if you post on this forum asking for help to your site, we may take a screenshot of your site and share it here to show how it looks to us. This clause gives us the right to share the screenshot of your site on here without the “that’s my content, you can’t show that”.

Fair use should cover most of such cases, but fair use varies a lot per country, and we don’t want trouble because someone says that our use is not fair use because in their jurisdiction it’s not fair use.

That’s the kind of debate we want to avoid with this clause. I hope we’ll never need it, but just in case.

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Thanks for the response. So I take your explanation to mean that while I may own and can declare whatever license I want to re content I provide on my site, InfinityFree would be in no way bound by that license. IMO, that would be problematic to many who put substantial effort into the design of an app, or media that they might want to have hosted here. Even if the app code is licensed liberally, e.g. CC-BY-SA license, some aspects of the license are still crucial to be complied with (e.g. attribution). I would like to hear what the owner says re that concern.

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Check the response just above.

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OK, thanks. I agree that using content as part of the service (including support or forum conversations) is fair, as long as it’s aligned with the content license. I’m just concerned about the breadth of the license given to InfinityFree by the TOS as it stands. As I noted in the earlier reply, if I license work (e.g. app or content), it seems from the TOS that such a license does not have to be honored in any way by InfintyFree, and that by publishing my content here I am agreeing to no license at all. Without a license, ownership means little to me.
Note I’m not questioning your intent, business model, or operational needs; I’m sure many users would be fine with this even if they understood it. I’m just trying to be sure I understand the TOS before I host anything valuable to me here.

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Your website and code is yours. We don’t own it and we don’t want rights that give us a similar level of control.

The “in relation to our service” is the limiting factor here. We can’t just dump your source code online as it would violate that limitation as there would be no relation to our service. But sharing small snippets of code for troubleshooting/debugging purposes could happen, of course.

Also, we could run a promotional campaign with some materials showing “look at what kind of sites people host with us” showing your site. We don’t do this, and if we did I would personally want to get permission beforehand as much as reasonably possible.

And this access is separate from whatever license you may be using to release your content publicly. Whether that’s basic copyright law, some CC license or something else, we have our own agreement with you that we have regarding every site that doesn’t involve us having to keep track of the unique license requirements of each site.

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Thanks, your clarification helps a lot. The “in relation to our service” part is key here and provides all the assurance I need; thanks for confirming that.

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