Hayley Tsukayama
Washington Post

Hoaxes are hard things to put down — particularly when they seem to offer something that people want. to hear. Such is the case with the latest Facebook hoax, actually a rehash of one that cropped up in June, that claims users can change their copyright rights by simply posting a status message.

The post illustrates both how little users know about their digital rights and how much they want clear control over content they post to Facebook.

The statement, which users are copying and pasting onto their profiles, reportedly confers copyright privileges to individual Facebook users that are different than the ones they agreed to when using the service.

Under the network’s terms and conditions, users grant Facebook the right to use, distribute and share posted items subject to its terms of service and user privacy settings. Copying and pasting a status update doesn’t…