No copyright protection for tweet?

A postcard manufacturer is permitted to continue printing a tweet on her postcards, as in the view of the Regional Court (LG) Bielefeld, it does not enjoy copyright protection due to lack of the necessary level of creative effort.

A postcard manufacturer took inspiration from Twitter and printed the following tweet on postcards:

"When exactly did 'Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll' actually turn into 'Lactose intolerance, Veganism & Helene Fischer'?"

The author apparently did not find that amusing and intended to bring an action for injunction, among other things. He therefore applied for legal aid at the Regional Court (LG) Bielefeld. However, this was not granted to him because the court considered the action to have little prospect of success.

Court decision – No copyright protection for tweet

By means of its order of 03.01.2017 (Az.: 4 O 144/16), the Regional Court (LG) Bielefeldcopyright infringementdenied.

In the court's view, the tweet was not aliterary workprotected by copyright. Insofar as the Twitter user compared his performance to that of an advertising copywriter, the so-called "small change" in advertising texts is not protected. Rather, a clear surpassing of average design is required in order for a personal intellectual creation to be assumed.

The necessary degree of creative effort was not reached in the tweet. The verbal wit alone is insufficient to establish copyright protection as a literary work.

Conclusion

It does not clearly emerge from the decision whether tweets are generally not entitled to copyright protection. In any case, it is certain that due to the brevity of the text, the options for design are limited. However, this has a detrimental effect on the capability of protection as a literary work.