[ncmncm]

Innumerable court cases have turned on what are often negligible practical differences. Apple is said, legally, to "hold" copyright. Saying they "own" it would mean they have all sorts of rights and powers around it that we as a society choose not to grant to them.

That is not to say that numerous judges have not, on their own initiative, elected to grant holders many such powers. Judges can be just as confused as anyone, and more than some, and so exceed their statutory authority. Congress, moreso. But there is still a difference.