Who owns a Hashtag? Can you own one?
Ever used a hashtag? If yes, then you will not have trouble getting the best out of this article! However if not, and you want to know about it then you can always mention it in comments or message me separately.
Let's Start...
Think about owning the hashtag- #cocacola… Wherein not even Coca-Cola Company can use it without your permission
Confused Right?
Your First response may be “No one can own it!”, coz people are creating whatever hashtag they want and playing with it in all ways over social media so even if you create one today, somewhere else may unknowingly use it at some other place. #Chaayos #Ki #Masale #Wali #Chai, #ProtectYourPeace (Yogue Activewear), #NadiyaKinareSagarPukare are few that I read in a few posts recently. At the same time, as hashtags like #cocacola represent a company, Coca-Cola must have right to get IP Rights of it… right?
Let’s come to one more example. #AbkiBaarModiSarkar was one of the most trending hashtags of 2014. Now tell me, who owns it? Any particular party, some particular person or everyone? You may say that the person who created it but then, there is everyone who is sharing it, adding content to it, and hashtags are in fact, created to categorize social media posts right, so why any single owner to it.
So, there comes a middle answer- “It Depends”
It is true that until now, not much thought has been given to it as in, who would own #Chai or #Sportswear as there is no one face of it, but on the other hand #YogueActivewear owned by Yogue Activewear makes some sense. Big Blue Chip Companies are looking forward to gaining copyrights of their hashtags. Imagine what would happen if, just like using any company’s logo, name or tagline without permission, using reserved hashtags too becomes unlawful. On this, we may laugh at, but yes, it can happen if any company or person actually takes copyright of some hashtag. Nothing is wrong in that because that’s copyright all about right!
But, read this, owning a hashtag can have repercussions too. Whilst Logo, Slogan or Name are something that adds to brand’s reputation over time, hashtags have the power to degrade the complete name earned by them too. #Philips used by someone extremely happy with the brand will add to Philip’s Reputation, but by an unhappy customer can lead to destroying the same as well.
So what to say about ownership of a hashtag?
One thing is clear, if today you want to own a hashtag, You Can. However, this is something where complexity flows in too. Brands can get Copyright and IP Protections on hashtags that they create, but there seems to be very less that they can actually do to stop the misuse of it when you know that there is little that even the social media giants are able to do to stop hate speech, spam content, and anti-corporate strategy speeches on their own platforms...
Thank You.
Happy Hashtagging!