I had read a "sample" posted on a famous author's website once. I don't know if it was a pre-edited sample, but after that one chapter I swore off all her work. She's a BIG NAME AUTHOR, and I was stopped in my tracks by bad analogies that conjurred up wildly impossible images.

But don't post drafts of WIPS!

That extends to posting drafts of fiction on your blog. First of all, posting work on your blog constitutes "first publication rights" to most publishers. You post part of your draft of a WIP on your blog, you've blown most chances at publication

Second — why would you put a DRAFT out in public? Yeah, share with trusted readers, but do you really want people to see your work in the nude, before it's been polished? Out there in its worst form for all eternity?

Reading a badly written draft is not going to entice me to buy the book if it ever is published.

Also, I get paid to read and comment on drafts, outside of my circle of Trusted Readers, where we do swaps. Why would I comment on someone's first draft on blog?

The clause you posted reads to me more like a kitchen sink / shotgun approach to covering their collective butt, just in case. After all, millions of comments are made on LinkedIn every day – finding one or two reprint-worthy items buried in those posts would be like finding a needle hidden in a 10K acre field of side-by-side haystacks. (The one way great posts might come to light is if hundreds of people "like" them.)

That said, it's always better safe than sorry. I've never understood why some people share their own poems and things in public forums.

That's how I would interpret it too, Jake – right down to the "is a fool" part.

I read this as "if you post any intellectual property of any type on this site, we're not responsible for how it gets used and BTW you can't sue anyway." I have no idea if it would stand up in court, but common sense would dictate that anyone posting valuable information in a public forum without understanding the implications…is a fool.

To put a finer point on it: If they assemble a book of "LinkedIn's 101 Most Unbelievably Fantastic Marketing Ideas" and your lovingly crafted post was one of them and it becomes a NYT bestseller: tough noogies. You're not going to see a dime. And, as with HuffPo bloggers, I'll feel nah pity for ye.

Yesterday was a big invoice day here. Mmmmmm…invoices.

I share my resume, my background, my skills, and my thoughts in forums on LI. I share links to articles, but since they're copyrighted elsewhere, good luck to LI facing a litany of magazine lawyers! LOL

I don't find it all that disturbing because I don't share unpublished work there. Maybe it's more of a lesson in what NOT to share rather than what rights are being stripped away.

Yes, it's disturbing on one level, but on another level, it doesn't really apply.

I found this post from 2009 webtechlaw post. It essentially says the LI Agreement is worse than FB.

I wrote a post a while back on 7 things in the LI Agreement that you might not know. Much mellower than this, but surprising just the same.

I think it's another fine example of closing the barn door after the horse escaped. If the 2009 post is still accurate, even if you terminate, LI retains their "rights."

The Company Page and Published work are two areas that could be of concern. Of course, there's always concern about what's shared in Groups or Q&As. It amazes me what some people share.

I'm not sure how (or if) this will change the way I participate in LI. I do share my work from a promotional standpoint. What are the odds that they would use it in a manner I would have a problem with? I'm not sure.

Thanks for the thought-provoking post, Lori.