Can they do this?

Comments

[Ryan Joy]

Yes, this is very common to indemnify a website and to make it clear that most user generated content (searches, comments, etc.) become the property of the website owner. HP makes it explicit in the way they link to their TOS, but I assure you that most other TOS are also implicitly triggered upon using a website.

It's a lot like the signs that say you do X at your own risk. You didn't explicitly sign your rights away, but putting the sign up limits the property owner's exposure.