Linden-Sponsored Copyright Awareness

One of the things I see pop up, time and again, is questions regarding copyright, infringement, enforcement... etc. Since Second Life is a rife example of a world that can very easily be used to rip off... just about anything - it might be wise to work on the problem.

This is, by the way, why I continue to oppose any Linden plans to support money trading at the first party level. That being another debate entirely.

I just gave the TOS/Community Standards a firm read. While the issue of copyright is brushed upon (ie. "does not infringe on the rights of a third party", it is not made clear where, indeed, the line of copyright is drawn. While I'll admit it's a very amorphous topic at best since the advent of the Internet, I would fully endorse any plans by the Lindens to clarify what rights residents have regarding fair use, derivative works, et cetera - both in world as with regards to external parties.

Two good places to start:
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/trtdocs_wo001.html
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

I would also be interested in the creation of several Wiki pages on the subject, but I'd need to know how important an issue this is to everyone and, furthermore, would probably need help doing so.

This says nothing of enforcement - since that's virtually impossible as systems exist today. However, awareness of one's rights is another issue entirely.

By means of edit, for those of you skimming this thread:

We're talking a few links to promote awareness. Not the copyright police - simply "here guys, read this."

Furthermore, the DMCA link from the main page is a little obscure, since the question still appears quite often. A more forward and concise explanation would be helpful for residents.

The way I see it, Linden Lab is sort of an ISP, and (like other ISPs) has no real responsibility for the conduct of its users (as has been upheld in court with other ISPs). LL is not in the business of defining fair use or what is enforceable or not--that's the responsibility of the user. As with other ISPs, they will take down infringing material if identified properly by the copyright holder.

There is no way they'd ever willingly create an Intellectual Property Squad--it doesn't make any business sense.

The problem for LL would be in a ruling that Second Life is like a Napster--a piece of software that invites and facilitates copyright infringements on a large scale.

Correct. The "Feature Suggestion," then, is nothing more than providing the end-user with a few helpful links on what is defined as copyrighted material, copyrighted rights, etc. Really nothing more than that other than a definitive "look here" for residents to refer to.

Since Second Life is not an application used for massive amounts of for-pay software being pirated, nor honest financial difficulty for any company, even those blatantly ripped from, I doubt if we'd ever see such a case. But, just so select individuals could sleep easier at night, clarification would be nice.

I agree with Zero. It wouldn't be a smart legal move for LL to try to police copyright. It's not their place to do so. Their TOS states what it needs to state in order for them to do the responsible thing, which is to stay out of it. The last thing they need is to be responsible for the conduct of their users.

LL is not a governing body. They are simply a provider of tools. It's not their place to decide what the users can make with those tools. They have of course set some loose guidelines for how those tools should and shouldn't be used, as any conscientious manufacturer would, and they have made it clear that using the tools to abuse others will result in the tools being taken away from the offending party, as judged on a case by case basis, but that's as far as they need to go. Anything beyond that would be wrong, and it would be asking for trouble.

Telling LL they should get involved in the prevention or resolution of disputes over creations made with their tools would be analogous to telling Bic they should make sure no one uses one of their pens to draw Spiderman, or telling Xerox they should have special safeguards on their machines so that no one can photocopy a book. Even if such things were possible, it's simply not the tool manufacturer's job to do that.


EDIT:

Oops, your follow up message appeared while I was writing mine. I guess I misread your intent. If all you're talking about is a reference section, it's already in place. Check the first link on the bottom of the SL homepage.

Maybe I'm not making myself clear.

We're talking a few links to promote awareness. Not the copyright police - simply "here guys, read this."

Haha, we keep writing at the same time. Check my edit to my last post.

Interesting. Of course, I didn't notice it there - which is in its own way a problem.

Furthermore, my Wiki point stands. Methinks a DMCA link to the Wiki, at least, is a start. A few other links may also be beneficial.

I agree that a few Linden-sponsored statements in plain language regarding proper handling of intellectual property would probably be a good idea. Actually their entire user guide/help stuff needs a major overhaul (something prettier than a Wiki, please )

Agreed. It wouldn't be a bad idea to make it more visible, but it's there.