Are you hawking full perm textures? Or other prims? Reselling stolen stuff? Legal Eagles are on it.

Wolfe Greenfield are legal eagle in IP law and they have their eye on Second Life.

They aren't so much worried about the poachers who steal in-world-created content and resell those items and textures and striker serpentines crappy-built sex beds.

Rather, they are, for the time being, looking out for their existing clients. So if you're building those prim shoes and throwing the Nike logo on them, or slapping a Apple Computers logo on your iPhone replica... be careful. be very careful.

For the time being, a white paper was produced and released today for any real life companies considering the licensing of their name and logo to anyone in the virtual, or real world.

Following is an excerpt:
  • Supply the graphics--provide the quality and type of graphics you want the licensee to have.
  • Exclusivity--exclusivity is always dependent on the negotiations.
  • Jurisdiction--It is important that your licensee has some ties to the U.S. so you'll have an effective method to enforce rights.
  • Tarnished brand--consider the environment in which the products are sold.
  • Enforcement--the licensee should have a responsibility to the property owner to make the licensor aware of any infringement.
  • Marking product--additional marking of the object's Second Life profile may be worthwhile.
  • Royalty rates--a detailed conversation with your future licensee can establish an appropriate royalty rate.
  • Payment reports--detailed reports should be provided and include information about any purchase, the name of the purchasing resident, the date and time of the purchase, and pricing."
Second Life Brings Infringement Risks and Licensing Opportunities, Top Trademark Expert Says: "-- Know your licensee.

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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 8:40:00 AM PST

    Making an iPhone or branded laptop replica is a favour to the company that make meatspace stuff. most of the times it is a tribute and not an IP violation. Ask Coca.Cola if you don't trust me. Pity that so few companies realizes that.

     
  2. Ari Blackthorne™ Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 9:25:00 AM PST

    @ dandellion

    Yes, you are correct about Coca Cola. However, Coca-Cola has explicitly and publicly given freedom of use of their logos and trademarks specifically in Second Life. This is public knowledge.

    Even though Apple Computer hasn't given explicit permission, they aren't much worried about it because they understand that it's fandom-based and that these 'unauthorized' replicas actually help build interest and push sales.

    Microsoft Windows would not be where it is today if it weren't for Piracy because OS/2 was kicking its ass and 10-times more superior. But, now that it's 75% of all OS's in use, they can drop their own hammer on it. They actually tried to trademark the word "Windows" - which was shot down in court. So the best they can do is copyright the term "Microsoft Windows".

    However, do you *really* know how Nike feels about it? What about (insert any other brand name here)?

    Try using any Disney logo or trademarked image and let them find out about it. You will receive the scariest, most serious cease and desist letters I've ever seen in my life - and they give you like 24-hours to comply. RL Example: a daycare - yes DAYCARE painted images of Disney characters on the wall. You know, Mickey, Donald... the usual fare. They we threatened with a lawsuit and a $500,000 fine.

    Ummm... a *DAYCARE* center. The cool thing is Warner Brothers actually came in, painted over Disney and professionally painted their characters (Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, Foghorn Leghorn and so on.)

    Disney is notorious for dropping the hammer (read: 500 lb SLEDGE HAMMER) on ANYONE'S head if they use any trademarked image that they own. *Any*.

    I've seen it myself.

    So what, that's Disney, right? But, who else defends their trademarks and copyrights do diligently, but quietly that we never hear about it? The point being this: Intellectual Property rights are more important than ever Especially with the advent of the 'digital' age.

    What you may not realize is this: If you have a registered trademark and copyright, not only does it afford you rights to defend that trademark and copyright, but you are *required by law* to defend that copyright and trademark or it becomes public domain.

    Thus, with regard to your Intellectual Property and defending it: you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

    So, in a word: *ouch*.

     

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