Forum Copyright - TOS Contradicts itself

Question

For one reason or another, I would like to delete content posted by me on a specific forum.

There are two sections in the TOS that both contradict themselves, which is why I am asking for advice here.

The first section that appears on the topic:

PROPRIETARY RIGHTS.

"[Forum] does not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, works of authorship, applications, or other materials (collectively, "Third Party Content") that its users post."

However, the next sentence then says:

"By posting Third Party Content to any public area of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant to [Forum] an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute said Content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, said Third Party Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses (through multiple tiers) of the foregoing."

From my (Very uneducated) understanding, this means that I am still the copyright holder of the (unique) content that I have posted, but the forum has the full rights to display the content, which is a right I cannot revoke.

If I'm the owner of the content, surely I have the right to request its deletion?

When I asked, they said no, however, I'm 100% sure that there's a very fast way to remove all posts at once.

This isn't really a big deal, I was just interested in learning a little more about the situation.

(Both I and the registered company are located in the UK)

Thanks

Answer 1

The part about "If I'm the owner of the content, surely I have the right to request its deletion" is the problem. Sure, you have the right to request, but you can't legally compel. You have an agreement with them, according to which you got something, and they got something. You can't then take back the thing that you gave them, which is permission to use. You didn't give them the IP itself, which you still hold.

Here's an analogy. You may own a car, and can give a person permission to use the car (let's say "if you bring me back a pound of cheese from the store"). You cannot later change your mind (especially after you've gotten the cheese) a say that you retract that permission and therefore they actually stole your car. When permission to use is given, as long as the conditions for granting permission are satisfied, you can't un-give permission.