The BBC reports that a full page advertisement appearing in The New York Times, which included an actual tweet, raises copyright concerns regarding the reprinting of tweets for such purposes.
The ad was a promotion for the film, Inside Llewyn Davis and the tweet belonged to the New York Times’ very own film critic, A.O. Scott. Scott, apparently a fan of the Inside Llewyn Davis soundtrack, tweeted, “You all keep fighting about Wolf of Wall St. and Am Hustle. I’m gonna listen to the Llewyn Davis album again. Fare thee well, my honeys.” Scott said the firm behind the full-page ad had originally sought his permission to use a portion of the tweet, which he denied stating that it was “a slippery slope and contrary to the ad hoc and informal nature of the medium.” Regardless, the edited version of the tweet appeared in the ad.
Of interest here is the convergence of copyright, advertising and contract law. Namely, Scott’s ownership of his tweet, the use of his tweet as an endorsement for a product and Twitter’s apparent prohibition against using tweets in ads without the user’s permission. With respect to Twitter’s own rules, it states that one must get the user’s permission before, among other things, “creating an advertisement that implies the sponsorship or endorsement on behalf of the user.”
While it does not appear as though Scott will be taking any action other than registering his annoyance with the film promoter’s actions, the incident does serve as a reminder that, when using content found on social media, one must be careful to consider both the intellectual property rights of the creator as well as the terms and conditions of the social media site itself.
You can read A.O. Scott's piece on the episode here.
