Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Second Life IP Suit
My morning gossip rag, the New York Post, had this story yesterday about a suit brought by six Second Lifers suing a Queens man in the EDNY for copyright and trademark infringement for "counterfeiting and selling versions of their products." Among the products allegedly copied were clothing, shoes, and beds. As a virtual and real world, does the conceptual separabilty analysis apply to the design of useful articles on Second Life?
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I'm a great deal more concerned with the precedent this will set for organizations such as ASCAP/BMI to enter the scene.
SL is rife with avatar Disc Jockeys who stream music to clubs and other parcels - who, in all likelihod, haven't bothered to secure performance licenses for the music on their hard drives.
The technology involved also begs me to ask another question. Since new regulations are now in place regarding the licensing of internet radio stations, AND, since an SL DJ is, in effect, creating an internet radio stream into SL - shouldn't the same restrictions and regulations be applied there?
I'm afraid that once the DMCA becomes used more frequently as an enforcement tool in SL - then the halcyon days of lassez faire content creation in that digital world have come to a resounding close.
Please, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter!
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