More on Copyright Protection for Tweets and Other Short Phrases

In researching my post entitled “Can You Copyright Your Tweets?” I came across some great articles debating the protectability of short phrases.

William Bonk writes on “Tweet Copyrightability” and concludes, “If the product of data and professional analysis, then copyrightability is likely. Otherwise, the tweet must exhibit increasing creativity with decreasing length.”

Consuelo Reinberg writes in “Are Tweets Copyright-Protected?” that “[m]ost experts agree the response should not be an all-or-nothing answer, but rather ‘it depends.’  While most tweets would not pass the ‘copyrightability’ test, some might meet the minimum amount of originality demanded by copyright law.”

William Patry discusses “Jokes and Copyright,” in which he reveals that comedians often enforce their own moral rights in jokes in sub rosa ways, and identifies Robin Wiliams and Carlos Mencia as inveterate joke thieves.

David Giacalone opines on “Haiku and the Fair Use Doctrine.”