copyright intellectual-property ownership copyright-transfer
Jack Dorsey just sold his first tweet. But was it actually owned by him? What constitutes &quot;ownership&quot; in law?
<p>I'm pretty sure Dorsey owns the copyright on his exact words (if they are capable of copyright and not just a pre-existing or generic text that's been used by others elsewhere), and that Twitter has a licence to use and monetise the tweet. But I don't know if ownership of a tweet is the same as copyrights holder, or licensee.</p>
<p>Ownership is usually synonymous in some sense with having exclusive rights to exploit and control.  But does that apply to the tweet, after all, a tweet is <strong>not</strong> the same entity as the words it contains (nor is a book the same legally as the collection of words it contains).</p>
<p>If a tweet could be equated to it's words, then ownership would not be possible and what Dorsey actually sold was his copyright.</p>
<p>Is that what happened? Is a tweet (as distinct from the words it contains) legally capable of being owned? Could a tweet and the words in it be sold independently and have different owners/copyright owners, and does that have meaning in law?</p>
<p>Is the concept settled,or has it been tested in law (perhaps in a different/analogous field)?</p>

<p>Brief Answer: The type of ownership relevant to your question is that over intellectual property; specifically: the copyright. The application of copyright law to tweets is currently a cutting edge area of law with no clear answers.</p>
<p>Longer Answer:
Is a tweet copyrightable? Short phrases are not copyrightable. <em>Prunte v. Universal Music Group, Inc.</em>, 699 F.Supp.2d 15, 30 (D.C. Cir. 2010). This is traditionally the domain of trademark law. This rule keeps copyright law from locking up the essential building blocks of art.</p>
<p>I personally think a tweet can't be copyrighted because it would do exactly that. If someone can copyright a tweet, someone could begin locking up tons of different common sentences.</p>
<p>But, you will definitely find lawyers who disagree with me.</p>
