While he was worrying like a terrier at the word "content" I believe John Philpin wasn't giving "own" quite the same third-degree. If, as some say, possession is nine-tenths of the law, then all those various places where he stores his stuff, even temporarily, could be said in some sense to own it. I quite like that thing you see inside books, that "The Author asserts their moral rights ..." There's nothing to stop you stealing it (well, aside from the law, in some cases, for people with deep pockets) but at least you know it would be immoral to do so.