#your truth doesn’t misconstruct anyone else’s | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hayleyb100 · 4 years

Text

The Origin

*It’s a continuing story from The Misconstruction!

"Hey, Raihan!"

Leon waved at the Dragon Gym Leader who was sitting outside the Hammerlocke Cafe.

"Hey, Leon..."

But to Leon's surprise, Raihan was extremely gloomy, which is a very rare sight.

"Raihan? Is something the matter?" Leon asked with a worried expression.

"Nothing? You were so caught up with Battle Tower thingy so I called you instead of waiting for your call. It doesn't hurt to meet the best pal in a while, right?" Raihan pulled his mouth to wear a fake smile, but the darkness lingered on his face.

"That doesn't seem like an only issue." Leon shook his head.

Raihan hesitated for a while. Leon wasn't the most skilled of all to read other's minds, but it was clear Raihan has a busload of things he wanted to vent.

"Please tell me Raihan. You look frazzled."

"........"

Raihan bit his lips. He fiddled with his fingers with nervousness. Leon was quite thrown off at his friend's unusual reactions. He never saw Raihan this nervous in his life.

"Leon. I'm going to be frank. How do you get strong?"

Leon nearly blew out his coffee at such an unexpected question.

"What? Raihan, today isn't April Fool's Day, right?"

It wasn't a shock that Leon took it as a joke. It was Raihan. The 8th Gym Leader of Galar whose pride is as high as the Gigantamaxed Duraludon itself.

"I'm serious, Leon." Raihan snapped.

"Do you think I'm the type to ask this humiliating questions for a joke?"

Leon shook his head. It was clear Raihan was restless.

"So... Why asking that out of blue? I mean, I might answer you better if I realize exactly what you want to know."

"Well..."

"Come on, Raihan. You know I won't trumpet any of the things we discussed here."

Raihan took a deep breath to start a conversation.

"You know ever since we met during the pokemon journey, I told you that I aim to become strong?"

"Yeah, the most powerful pokemon trainer, you said. That's why you chose 241(Can be read as 'strong' in Japanese) as your back number, right?"

"Mhm... But... Recently, it feels as if I hit a roadblock. No matter how much I try... I don't seem to exceed my present state."

Leon tilted his head.

"What do you mean? You are addressed as the strongest Gym Leader in Galar."

"You know damn well why I am asking this!"

Raihan slammed the coffee cup on the table with rage.

"I tried years to defeat you and I couldn't! Until you stepped down from that glory and is enjoying your life as Battle Tower owner! And Victor? Don't even start!! You know the best that I am no match for him!! I even get defeated by other Gym Leaders as well! I..."

Raihan got choked on his rage and had to pause.

"...At this rate, I am not even sure if I can call myself the strongest Gym Leader of Galar."

That was honestly how he felt. The more he tried, the more he realized his limits, so it tempted him to throw the towel. Although he was the most classy and fancy person out there in Galar, he was a worn-out, wounded dragon who felt completely torpor on his dream inside.

To get away from the unbearable despair, Raihan turned his eyes to SNS and fashion where everyone praised him.

But he knew better than anyone that it is pathetic escapism. It's so easy to get distracted when the hurdle is so high. He knew that he had to train harder to break the limit, but he just felt more lost and helpless with a compiling number of losses in official battles. Raihan couldn't even talk back to all those harsh comments on his SNS addressing him as a loser or failure, because it is a legit truth. He is a good-for-nothing loser who is running away from his dream.

Now Leon felt the situation is serious than ever. He never once saw Raihan this devastated.

Leon thought hard how to cheer his best friend. Then, something rang a bell in Leon's mind.

"Hey, Raihan... Someone told me once that 'Focusing too much on how and why take us nowhere. Sometimes it is better to focus on what we can get out of it.'"

"What are you talking about?"

Raihan asked back in frustration.

"It seems like you are too desperate to stack power that you are only focusing on how to get stronger..."

"Well, duh! What else is needed??"

"If the method has no problem, let's move away from how to get stronger or why you are not getting stronger and ask yourself something else."

Leon took a deep breath and asked.

"What is the origin of your dream?"

Raihan's eyes widened.

"Wh... What?"

"What is the driving force for you to become the strongest trainer?"

Raihan was dumbfounded. It's been years since he asked himself that question so he could not answer right away. He made a long drive taking advantage of victory without giving a second thought about it, and it worked. So he thought it was fine. But not anymore.

So Raihan tried to become strong... For what?

He carefully reminisced his memories. The pain rushed back in.

The pain of losing mother, his role model, was so intense that it made him pledge to become strong so that none of it happens again. So, that means he wanted to be powerful so that he can protect someone dear to him.

Okay. But... protect who?

Sure Raihan has many that are meaningful to him. Leon his best pal, and all the other Gym Leaders who go through what he goes through. However, do they need protection from someone else? They are all skillful and strong enough to guard themselves. So...

What exactly was Raihan stacking all those powers for?

For... nothing?

"...Then, what is yours?"

All Raihan could do is to ask Leon back with the same question, in the hope to get some clues.

"My driving force is Hop, of course." Surprisingly, Leon never hesitated to answer with sparkling eyes.

"At first, it was a vague responsibility and pressure from others saying I should be an unbeatable Champion. It was suffocating, rather. I didn't feel the joy of thriving. All I could feel was the pressure of I mustn't lose. Plus, I was afraid that if I am not the Champion anymore, my dear brother won't love me anymore."

That's new. Raihan thought. He never thought even Leon, the idol of Galar had such worries. Even Raihan himself who claims to be Leon's pal didn't even notice it.

"But now, I don't have any lingering attachments left to the Champion title, since I finally realized that Hop loves me whether or not I am Champ. He adored me despite I have the power or not. I feel so much lighter and lively these days because I'm freed from the pressure. My dream of making Galarian trainers the strongest out there hasn't changed, but I can pursue it in better ways after breaking the chain of pressure. I'm so glad and overjoyed that I can give all the love to Hop without any worries! I guarantee, that to have somewhere to return to when things are grim is such a blessing. And if someone has something that precious, they just tend to be strong to protect it."

Raihan dropped his head. Now he sees what he's lacking. Something that he can never fulfill.

"Lucky you. I have nothing like that."

Upon Raihan's disappointment, Leon tilted his head once more.

"That can't be true."

Raihan stared at him trying to argue, but Leon seemed to assure of himself.

"The way you love your pokemon shows it. Someone who never received love from others can never love others as well. I'm not in a position to say who, but there must be... someone who loves you."

With that, something hit Raihan hard.

Someone Raihan tried so hard to push out of his memory popped into his head. The gentle cuddle, the scent of wildflowers and a meadow after rain, the smile full of love, and turquoise eyes that looked just like him.

"Maybe pay a visit to that person," Leon added.

"You might get an answer. I certainly found my answer for visiting Hop. Remember, if you can't find the answer, go back to your origin."

"But..." Raihan shook his head.

"He hates me now."

"Did he say he hates you?" Leon asked back, still calm.

"Umm, no. But it's obvious..."

"There's no such thing as obvious when it comes to someone else's feelings towards you." Leon shook his head too.

"I thought Hop hated me since I wasn't the Champion anymore... But the person who advised me also gave me a clue to honestly ask Hop about his feelings. And that's how I made it up with Hop."

Leon tapped Raihan's shoulder to cheer him.

"Remember, don't jump to the conclusion. Go and be honest with yourself."

______________________________________

Even after Leon went back to Battle Tower after a short visit and Raihan was left alone, he was full of doubts. He thought his problem is so vast that one little visit won't solve everything. Plus, he knew the man he's thinking won't even welcome him. Raihan knows he's been an ass. He never visited him for over 10 years, said all the abusive words to him such as he is weak, and the last thing he said to that man was 'I hate you'.

Not to mention, Raihan had such complicated feelings towards him. He now knows that it wasn't on purpose, but he still had an old hatred from that slap after his mother's funeral. But on the other side, Raihan was restless all the time towards that man, since he is the only family left, and he is sickly. Raihan knew his old man hates him too since he literally snubbed all his effort of reconciliation. He wanted to visit him, but his stupid pride didn't allow him too.

He was just lost on what to do.

#gym leader raihan #raihan #pokemon raihan #champion leon #pokemon leon #pokemon swsh #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon gen 8 #pokemon generation 8 #pokemon oc #pokemon richard #pokemon aliyah

105 notes · View notes

aquagenesis · 3 years

Text

I know that due to my general inability to articulate my emotions in one cohesive statement has in no small part led to many of my legitimate boundaries being misconstrued as “I am looking to start a fight” or “I am stubbornly set into things I picked up on the internet because I am stupid and think online discourse is real life”. I also know that this misconstruction has led to my own paranoia spiking up under the fight or flight reflex of “stand your ground”. Regardless of the fact that both of these issues are “true” or not I cannot deny, it has irreparably fucked my ability to feel confident in what I’m saying being what I’m actually articulating for the sake of being “too vulnerable” and then being told I’m deluding myself into feeling my own emotions.

The reason why I have been and continue to be specifically aggressive about topics to do with real-life issues involving My Psychosis is because I suffered severe childhood trauma due to it. The reason I hate so badly when people mindlessly refer to people as “crazy” or “psycho” is because that was not only the terminology that got me involuntarily admitted into institutionalization but the same terminology that got my father off the hook for extreme child abuse and kidnapping. It is the same terminology that had the courts combing through every aspect of my psyche and life and the same terminology that got me barred from things like college admission or being able to gain independence from my family. It is the same terminology that dredged me through the underbelly of abusive relationships desperate for someone who would “understand” me and the same terminology that got someone poisoning and stabbing me laughed off as “teenage drama”. I was stalked and then ridiculed for it; told I was insane and living in delusion because I “refused to be medicated” or seek help when I was only in the position to be berated in such a way because I was seeking help.

The only reason I say any of this is because fundamentally I feel as though so much of this- so much trauma and self-hatred has been boiled down to “Lukas read some SJW posts on the internet and now he gets fucking pissed when someone doesn’t adhere to his beliefs”. I say this because no matter how many times I scream and fling myself into the mindset of “I have to prove I’m actually warranted to feel this way” I have no choice but to live through the memories of the trauma which got me so twisted in the first place. I say this because for years I’ve been identifying exclusively with this trauma because nobody: not friends, not family, not even myself, will accept this one boundary unless I could pull proof I was justified to speak of anything.

I say this because as someone who has been on the internet from far too early to introduced to an atmosphere like 2012 Tumblr far too late I cannot help thinking of how much we (and I) have done this to everyone. I say this because I myself have never been shy to do the same thing I write rants about, that being to criticize someone’s “validity” to say or do something which I have no justification to judge. The concept of what makes a “real” boundary versus “something you read in a discourse post circlejerk and got inducted into” has been twisted and stretched. Meeting and experiencing people with similar problems to those who once used their “boundaries” as a means to silence and control no longer sits the same way when you don’t bother to think or understand that the trauma which hurts someone can be wildly different than that which hurts another. I am not harmed by the fact my friend groups have gotten into arguments which we got back together from (albeit not always for the right reasons) but someone else may hold that pain very closely to them. Rather, I cannot trust someone when they drop terms like “crazy” or “psycho” because I have been so severely hurt with incorrect correlations being made between sociopath serial killers and myself, to the point where it did fundamentally affect my life.

I say this because I even feel so ashamed being vulnerable enough to coherently write the same post I’ve been making for years, at the idea that someone will realize this is something that I’ve been struggling with and not a hill to die on. I say this because there is always the haunting presence of a phantom in my mind who tells me anyone who reads my post where I am so truthful and genuine will use it against me, though there’s nobody I would imagine would do that. Everyone who knows me and would care enough to read this knows the pain I talk about so often, and I do not keep the company of those I do not trust with this intimate emotions. So why am I afraid?

I am afraid of mockery, I am afraid of being vulnerable enough to tell someone outright what they do is a boundary because I am so used to being talked over or screamed at and told I “don’t need that boundary”. I’ve spent so long building up the walls of “one strike and you’re out but I’ll give you a thousand do-overs just in case” to realize that tolerating that kind of pain is what keeps me forever locked in my psychotic condition. I don’t have to let go of a boundary just because others cannot respect it but that does not mean I need to make the boundary all that I am. No post will ever encompass the emotions I feel unless someone cares enough to listen, and I need to trust my own intuition rather than looking for validation in others before making my decisions.

While this will always remain a boundary I cannot move on that does not mean I need to be the loudest about it. It does me no good to live in the confines of as far as I can see inside of my psyche and wait anxiously for the next storm to arrive. Things can be important and not forgotten without spinning into obsession; I have done so much to ensure I am no longer around company that which would try to put a boundary on my boundaries. By not trusting my own decisions I am only continuing to give up my autonomy to the unknown, and the unknown also does not know me. Maybe one day that terminology will not trigger me; maybe one day that terminology won’t send a chill down my spine, but until then I must care for myself so it aches less every time.

#this is under a readmore for space not content

1 note · View note

fortheheavenssake · 5 years

Text

Twitter and Copyright

https://www.canyoucopyrightatweet.com/

I’m all for people being passionate about what they believe. That’s true even if I disagree. But, there’s a point where you have to ask yourself if you have the proper basis for your belief. Our systems of thought all flow from somewhere, but we really should step back and evaluate the basis of our passion a bit more objectively.

This is especially true with the Internet. Clearly, many people believe that everything we do, everything we post, everything we think in the online world is somehow protected. I suppose it makes sense if you are the one doing, posting, or thinking, but it’s not realistic. Since when did the online world cease to function in reality? Simply because people break the law online doesn’t mean there is no law- or worse yet, there is a different law for the Internet. The laws that exist in the offline world exist online as well – objectively.

My interest was raised when a great friend of mine pointed me to a blog post on Mark Cuban’s blog (http://blogmaverick.com/2009/03/29/are-tweets-copyrighted/). The question was quite simple: Are Tweets Copyrighted? I quickly jumped in, throwing in a sentence or two about the danger of that way of thinking. What startled me was the high level of participation and the supposed consensus that Tweets are, in fact, copyrightable and copyrighted. That’s why I’m writing this article.

To understand why the basic assumption is incorrect, you need background. I’ll do my best to set the record straight on what the law is – in theory (since it hasn’t been effectively tested) – and why it should be the way it is. Wherever you land, you’ll certainly know where I stand on this issue. First, let’s debunk some threshold confusion.

Twitter Doesn’t Own my Tweets, So I must

Twitter’s “Terms of Service” state unequivocally that when it comes to copyright, “What’s Yours is Yours.” (http://twitter.com/tos). The ‘terms’ go on to state that “your [the Twitter account owner] profile and materials remain yours.” This is likely the first stage of misconstruction in Twitterlogical thinking, i.e., that simply because Twitter doesn’t make a claim in your “intellectual property,” that there actually exists some intellectual property to own. Twitter did, after all, use those words – intellectual property/copyright. [Note: Granted, there are photos used and possibly other materials that may have copyright protection, but what I’m talking about here in this article is strictly limited to the <140 character Tweets you generate on a daily, hourly or minute-ly basis.] In any event, this may be the first part of confusion.

Twitter (and Facebook, Myspace, etc.,) are not capable of modifying copyright law to create a property right that does not otherwise exist. If the material you post through Twitter isn’t copyrightable to begin with, it will not mystically transform into protectable property merely by being Tweeted. Copyright law is codified in the United States Copyright Act, as implemented/construed/constructed by the Courts. If you’re not a judge or a lawmaker, you can’t create law. You might be able to try and create law by virtue of a contractual relationship, but it won’t change copyright law. My point here is that Twitter can’t tell you whether or not you create or own a copyright – it doesn’t have the legal ability to do so. So if you own any copyrights, it’s not because of Twitter not owning them, it’s because the law provides for ownership of them which initially vests with you, the author.

Fair Use Doesn’t Come Into Play If the

Material Isn’t Copyrightable and Copyrighted

When skipping along through the mountains of materials you find online, you’re certain to find heady discussions of Fair Use. If the word “copyright” comes up and anyone starts talking about what you can or can’t do, you’ll find someone in the crowd who will blow the Fair Use horn. In many instances, it makes sense. Fair Use is a major player in copyright- both on- and offline. But it’s a red herring if you are not dealing with material that is: 1) copyrightable; and 2) copyrighted. As to the former, we’ll get to that. As to the latter, some things are copyrightable (say, for instance, a song), but no longer protected by copyright (i.e., in the public domain). Fair Use doesn’t impact something in the public domain, because it’s no longer protected by copyright and may be used regardless of Fair Use. Being copyrightable, however, is the bigger question. I noticed lengthy analysis of the Fair Use doctrine on Mark Cuban’s blog, but again, if we’re not dealing with copyrightable materials, the analysis doesn’t matter.

A Quick Read of Sections 101 and 102

of the Copyright Act Is Not Enough

What I often find is that people online seek to educate themselves. They read; they investigate. This is true with copyright issues as well, and it’s well documented that many people are not only familiar with the US Copyright Act, but have read parts of it. The truth, however, is that reading the applicable sections isn’t enough. If you can imagine, judges don’t always agree on what the statutes mean, so when a layperson- someone without extensive legal background in the area of copyright law – tries to interpret a part of the Copyright Act, there’s a high probability that it will be interpreted incorrectly. Even if a person is correct in an assumption, it doesn’t mean everyone else has interpreted the law in the same way. In addition, the Copyright Act doesn’t explain anything; it just states the law, which makes it very difficult to understand the underlying motivation in a particular section.

To understand copyright law, you need to know that the Copyright Act is only the beginning. Courts interpret the Act; they apply it to real-life situations. This means that in order to understand why Tweets may not be protected by copyright, you need to know cases as well. We also have areas of copyright law that haven’t been fully explored in the courts, like the Religious Exemption in Section 110, or even the Fair Use Doctrine, which has a mountain of case law and a higher mountain of misunderstanding of its application. What’s my point? Just that here’s much more to understanding a copyright issue that what you’ll be able to discern online. Case in point: I couldn’t tell you if Perl is the best tool for a particular scenario, but I did read the Wikipedia article on it, and discovered that it’s apparently the Swiss Army chainsaw of programming languages. Quiz me on a few more things about Perl and I might be able to answer correctly. Do I really know anything about it? No, but I do have access to Cliff Notes versions of real information. That’s a dangerous way to become an expert on anything.

Does the US Constitution Say Anything About this Topic?

Article 1, Clause 8, Section 8, of the United States Constitution states that: “The Congress shall have Power [. . .] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” You might not believe it, but this tells us a lot about why Tweets may not be protectable by copyright law. It’s about reasoning- why do we have copyright law to begin with?

That question is answered simply that there was a belief that if creators were not able to own and exploit (for a limited time) materials they created, they would not be able to continue to create them (because they would be forced to find other means of financial survival), and that the progress of arts and sciences would be stifled because no one would have incentive to create. This Copyright Clause of the US Constitute made it clear that creators needed incentive to create.

Arguably (and I’m not sure I entirely agree with this argument I’m making), Tweets do not even comport with the Copyright Clause of the US Constitution because they are often social/ego driven and would be created even if there was absolutely no benefit to the arts and sciences (and the financial potential arising therefrom). In other words, it is not copyright protection that provides incentive to Tweeters to Tweet; it is something else. For that reason, one might reasonably argue that Tweets do not fit the underlying logic of the Copyright Clause which gave rise to the Copyright Act. Tweets would occur naturally regardless. This is a slippery slope, though, and Tweets may very well fit the purpose of the Copyright Clause. For that reason, I think it’s worthwhile to point out that many Tweets have no logical tie to copyright protection, but that we can’t rely solely on the US Constitution for guidance.

All Tweets Are Not Created Equal

Tweets range from boring and useless facts (e.g., “wow, it’s cold in Toledo,” “my plane is late again,” “I’m going to poison the neighbor’s dog”) to purportedly-funny, yet useless facts (e.g., “I woke up and farted,” “she must workout,”), to interesting facts (e.g., “Americans consume 1.7 billion pounds of lard every year,” “the average burp contains 1.6 liters of gas”), to references to other facts (e.g., “check out this article in New York Post: tinyurld.com/183*&%,” “Michael Jackson auction canceled: whocares.com”), and everything in between. For this reason, to truly analyze the question of whether Tweets are copyrightable, you must differentiate between types of tweets. There may be a lurking Tweet that is protected by copyright law, but once you finish reading, I think you’ll see the probability of that scenario as being close to or at zero.

Facts Are Not Copyrightable

I’m not going to waste my time citing references to cases. You haven’t retained me as a lawyer and I haven’t agreed to represent you. More importantly, I haven’t received your retainer check. For that reason, you’re either going to have to assume it’s true, or you’re going to have to research it yourself. I’m just going to say what’s what.

“It’s sunny and warm, with a high temperature of 80 today.” That’s a fact. You think I can get dibs on keeping you from writing the same thing? No. Copyright law doesn’t extend to facts, no matter how they are described. [Note: for you ‘scholars’- I’m not saying there isn’t a way to protect a collection of facts and/or the particular expressive elements of the recitation of facts, I’m speaking directly to the facts themselves.] Now take my example and read the last 100 Tweets you can: how many are nothing more than a simple recitation of fact? Sure, there might be a funny word or two thrown in for good measure, but when you do the math- what, 90%? Be honest.

“Barstow’s Desert Dispatch Blasts City Manager for Living Outside of Barstow: tinyurl.com/1B30*%.” Did you grab the title from the newspaper? Well lucky you- that issue is in the courts right now. Newspapers will lose that battle, since titles are not protectable. But what if you made yours up? Well, yours is a title too. You have the same problem as the media giants, except you’re probably not as financially endowed, so you won’t be swaying any judges to make your point.

“She’s got legs and she just got done using them…not bad for a granny.” (Let’s assume this is a fact- a scary one at that.) Well, a fact is a fact. It might be funny or not, but it is, nevertheless a fact. Now this plays into how you might express a particular fact (we’ll get to that in a second), but be clear: facts are not protected.

The long and short of it is this: if 90% of all Tweets are nothing more than recitation of facts. That means that about 90% of Tweets are not protectable. For the other 10%, we’re not done with you yet. It’s all in how those facts are stated.

Idea versus Expression

“It’s sunny and warm, with a high temperature of 80 today.” A safe and conservative reporting of today’s weather. “It’s hot like a mother and the sun is beating me like a stepchild.” Same idea, different expression. Copyright law won’t keep someone from writing about the same fact. In my examples, both talk about the weather in my locale. But they each take a different approach to the same idea (fact). This is a pivotal connection you must make- you can only potentially protect your particular expression of a fact; you can’t keep other people from writing about the same facts.

But at some point – and this is a snag for nearly every posting junkie – the idea and the expression merge. “That’s a big door,” “that’s a large door,” “that’s a gigantic door,” “that door is massive,” “the door is huge” – these are all examples of facts that have merged with the expression of them. There are only so many ways you can describe a particular scenario, and copyright law isn’t going to let you get a monopoly on one way if there aren’t too many other ways to say the same thing. This does away with another 5-7% of the roughly 10% of potentially protectable Tweets.

Think about the Civil War. You can probably find 1,000 or more books on the subject. They all talk about the war, or we assume they do. Why do those books get copyright protection? Assuming they do, it’s because the expression can be individualized to such an extent that the expression rises above the facts. But could you have 1,000 books on me walking from my garage to my car door? Probably not. Not because it’s not possible, but because no one has done (or will take the time to do) it in a way that would be protectable. People would be saying basically the same thing. For most authors (Tweeters included), we write things in a way that is common, or in a way that 100 other people might respond to the same scenario, with little variation.

That leads us to the next reason why most Tweets would never be protectable: Scenes a Faire. These are scenes that necessarily result from a given situation. We all think we’re witty geniuses when we Tweet, but chances are if there were 100 Tweeters standing next to us at the time we experienced whatever it was we experienced, they would Tweet the same thing we did (or close enough to it). This includes common colloquialisms and expressions. Maybe we’re not as witty as we think when everyone else would use the same or substantially same expression. Some things just come up because of circumstances, and not because of creativity.

and Originality Requires Creativity

The most common example I’ve seen on Twitter of individuality of Tweets is the infusion of wit. It should be crystal clear by this point that the mere recitation of a fact is never protectable. The more difficult question is how to deal with wit. At the outset, understand that copyright law will not protect an unoriginal Tweet. We’ve already touched on that, but I know you’re all thinking, “yeah, but I’m funny as hell and so are my Tweets.” Maybe, maybe not, but copyright protection doesn’t have anything to do with humor. Originality is not dependent on it. But the real question requires legal interpretation. Originality in the copyright context is not necessarily what most people would think. Instead, it’s a certain qualitative and quantity analysis that requires a technical understanding of the legal distinction. In most cases, Tweets are not original. The humor added to a fact doesn’t make it original; it only makes it a potentially interesting read.

Size Matters

Over the years, I’ve heard so many conversations about size and length (in the copyright context). “You can use 10% of a book or song without permission, but no more,” “thirty second samples don’t require a license”). These supposed guidelines may generally be false. It’s interesting, because even large trade groups and professional organizations promote the thinking. In reality, most instances of copyright use and copyright protection involve an analysis of length. Since we’re talking about Tweets, we’re going to talk about the length of the Tweet and whether it is protectable in that context.

Titles are not protected by copyright protection. Neither are slogans and short phrases. Why? Because they tend to identify something (as in the case of titles), which renders them factual, even if witty. Also, because the length contributes to an overall belief that they lack legal originality under copyright law, short sentences, phrases, etc., often do not rise to the level of protectability. This is not to say that copyright law will never protect a short statement; rather, it is an issue of likelihood.

The Monopoly of Language

Think about it. If you could prevent someone from saying “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear ____, Happy Birthday to you,” you would be pretty stoked, wouldn’t you? But what do you think the rest of civilization would think – utter contempt (ever wonder why the employees at restaurants won’t sing the standard Happy Birthday song to you?). To be sure, many courts have arrived at disastrous conclusions, whether as a result of political or financial pressure, or due to inadequacy of legal persuasiveness. But a key to copyright protection is the granting of a monopoly. That’s why the law is going to take very seriously any request to protect an arrangement of words. When copyright law protects the written word, it grants a limited monopoly over the arrangement of words, allowing the owner to prohibit others from writing the same thing in the same way.

Now imagine if a court had to evaluate Tweets and consider whether to grant a monopoly to the author of a Tweet. Don’t you find it hard to believe that a court would grant someone a monopoly over your average Tweet? No, seriously, think about it. “Is this really the happiest place on earth? Why are so many people crying?” That was a real-life Tweet from me while at Disneyland. Do I want the courts to keep other people from writing the same thing? Of course not! Should I be able to sue someone from Tweeting the exact same thing? Of course not! You give a monopoly over language to true original authorship, not to a couple of sentences about Disneyland, your dog, coffee or the woman in the elevator with you.

The Problem of Registration

Know what it takes to stop someone from repeating your Tweet? A good lawyer and copyright registration. Some might say it just takes money, but money just hires lawyers; it doesn’t do anything on its own. But let’s just say you believe you own your Tweet and you want to stop someone from repeating it. How would you do it? What could you possibly do?

As the Mark Cuban blog commentators pointed out, copyright subsists in copyrightable subject matter from the moment it’s fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Yes, that’s true, but what can you do with that? Can you sue someone? No, but if you try, the judge will quickly inform you that a copyright infringement lawsuit requires copyright registration. So back up a few steps and consider that even though you may believe you own a Tweet, you can’t do anything practical about it unless you seek copyright registration. Without being condescending- Good luck with that.

Is there a protectable Tweet?

I admit, I think a protectable Tweet exists in theory. I have read hundreds if not thousands of Tweets and have yet to read one I believe would be protectable, but the possibility exists. The question is not: Are Tweets Copyrightable. The question is: Is This Tweet Copyrightable. The copyrightability of Tweets is not dependent on the fact that they are Tweets. Rather, it’s dependent on the analysis of the Tweet in question. The all-encompassing response that all Tweets are either protected or not protected is misguided. The real response is that it depends. However, when you analyze most Tweets, they would never individually pass copyright muster.

I read an interesting post in the thread I’ve discussed throughout this article, and the post mentioned a Haiku. To me, that’s smart thinking. Finding a possible protectable Tweet among the hordes of non-possibility. Maybe a Haiku is your ticket to Tweet monopolization. Otherwise, you probably won’t be able to protect anything.

The Parting Shot

Copyright and Tweets is really about practicality. Many people believe they own everything they post online, be it Tweets, Facebook status, or whatever. The truth is that most people are most likely incorrect in their assumption. I guess the bigger question is what would you do even if you did own a Tweet?

Written by Brock Shinen, Esq.

Brock Shinen is a business, intellectual property and entertainment attorney. He works extensively in the field of copyrights, and is a published writer and speaker on the subject matter. If you have questions about this article, or want permission to reprint it, please contact him at the address listed below.

PRESS CONTACT: Please send all queries to [email protected]

THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL ADVICE. IT IS INFORMATION ONLY.

16 notes · View notes