In essence, are you contractually bound to surrender ownership of your Twitter account to your employer?
In the digital age, the ownership and value of social media accounts have become a subject of much debate. A recent case, PhoneDog v. Kravitz, currently being heard in the Northern District of California, is shining a spotlight on this issue.
Noah Kravitz, a writer from Oakland, California, had acquired 17,000 Twitter followers while working for PhoneDog under the name PhoneDog_Noah. However, after quitting his job, Kravitz decided to keep the account, leading to a legal dispute.
The case might establish key boundaries for the ownership and value of social media accounts like Twitter, Google Plus, and Facebook. However, it's important to note that courts have generally not recognized these accounts as property that can be owned or transferred like physical assets. The account itself remains the platform’s property under their user agreement.
Users get a license to use the account but the platform retains ultimate control and can remove or suspend accounts for violations. For example, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) stated it takes action against accounts violating policies and allows users to appeal removals, but there is no legal obligation to restore accounts beyond that framework.
The difficulties in the PhoneDog v. Kravitz case arise when the parties do not have a written agreement regarding the social media accounts. In the absence of such an agreement, the legal landscape becomes murky.
Meanwhile, the changes in Twitter's Terms of Service have caused concern among some users, but they do not involve a lawsuit or religious discrimination. Twitter's Terms of Service have been updated, affecting users outside the US, effective October 2, 2017.
In another notable case, Elon Musk is suing Twitter Inc. over the $44 billion purchase of Twitter, scheduled to take place in Delaware Chancery Court on October 17. Both parties in this case have been seeking material to support their respective claims in recent weeks.
It's essential to understand that there are no clear legal guidelines for the ownership and value of social media accounts. Such issues are typically resolved through importing analogies from related areas of law and contractual agreements.
In conclusion, social media accounts remain under the control and ownership of the platform providers with user rights defined contractually. There is no current legal framework that recognizes these accounts as property owned by users or that assigns an inherent market value enforceable by law. Users’ access to accounts can be revoked according to platform policy enforcement, but users retain intellectual property rights to their content subject to platform licenses and privacy regulations.
Technology has become an integral part of entertainment and social-media, with platforms like Twitter, Google Plus, and Facebook playing crucial roles in both. However, the ownership and value of these accounts have been a topic of much debate, as seen in the case of Noah Kravitz, who kept his Twitter account after leaving his job at PhoneDog, leading to a legal dispute.
