Law Review Article on Intellectual Property

Hey all,
I am a US law student in my first life and am taking a course in Intellectual Property. I am only about a week old in Second life and have yet to find my place in the Second Life world, but I am working on it. In the meantime, I am writing a seminar paper on IP in the virtual world, specifically Second Life. I am not 100% sure on what to focus on as many law review articles hit many of the subjects that I am interested in (practicality of it all, affect in US court system, virtual property and the EULA, etc) and want to do something unique. Any tips or recommendations would be awesome. I will be posting updates in the next few weeks as my ideas collapse into a workable product!

Would like to hear from anyone using Second Life!

Yanni Constantine (Second Life name)

Given the proliferation of new grids, OpenLife, OSGrid, etc. and Linden Lab's involvement in working toward the ability to teleport freely between them, perhaps a treatment of IP rights and inter-grid transport of virtual property may be in order?

A study of inter-virtual-world policies on transfer of property and the rights pertaining thereto would be quite interesting.

Or even a study of the published Intellectual Property policies--not excluding the absence of same, where that is the case--of the most high-traffic virtual world sites, could be a very useful piece of work.

If I were an aspiring lawyer I would find a plethora of people to nail for copy right on ebay and every trade show just for logos alone, enough to keep me so busy irl life I wouldn't have time for virtual reality.

Where does fair use laws fit into Intellectual Property?

The discussion of consumer rights versus IP is also an interesting topic, in particular since international law differs. (Notably, the DMCA introduces restrictions which are downright illegal for a rights holder to enforce in Europe).

Many of the larger designers often have to file DMCA's (I think thats the correct word) against people who stole their designs.

Texture designers generally have to file the most of these (since in second life they are the easiest to copy), so maybe try speaking to some of them about the steps they take.

I have also heard of hair and skin designers having to file DMCA's.

For me, the most interesting issue of IP in SL is how IP rights for digital media impact on virtual recreations of ordinary activities. DMCAs are common in SL, but.. they're regular cases and the thieves are just plain breaking the law.

For example, in real life, you can have friends over to hear a CD you're bought. In Second Life, legally you can't, because when you stream the CD to their computers you make a copy.

Another example was the earlier case of Anshe Chung threatening to sue people for distributing pictures of her avatar. Of course in RL, you'd have trouble with that, but in SL she could argue her avatar was a piece of copyrighted digital IP..

Yes, the whole issue of DMCA and its application to virtual worlds is a good one.

DMCA is supposed to prevent theft of digital intellectual property, and provide an easy means of filing, disputing, and resolving claims. But there are practical problems.

1. It's easy to file a claim. This has caused DMCA to be used as a "dirty trick" to hamper a competitor or a rival.

2. To dispute a claim, you must reveal your real life contact information to the party who filed the claim. The converse is not true.

3. Claims take too long to process. While in process, stolen content can proliferate beyond all recovery.

4. Claims cost nothing. Counterclaims, proof and defense are expensive. In most cases in SL, the monetary amounts at issue are very small. This disparity contributes to the possibility of a DMCA claim being used as a weapon.

She didn't do that, did she? Are you serious?

Here are a some background stories regarding intellectual property issues in SL. Caution drama ahead.

Second Life Sex Business Sells On eBay For $50,000
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198700237

Second Life Lawsuit Over Cybersex Toy Theft
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/10/second_life_law.html

Skin Piracy Scenario = Fashionista Hornet’s Nest
http://commonsensible.net/2008/05/11/skin-piracy-scenario-fashionista-hornets-nest/

Unauthorized Pirated textures and those who distribute them:
http://uncensored.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=40882&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=marlin+studios&start=0

What happened to the Marlin Texture Thread
http://uncensored.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=182100

She threatened to, but then withdrew it. (Oh, edit - it was actually her husband.)

http://news.cnet.com/Behind-the-Anshe-Chung-DMCA-complaint/2008-1023_3-6150457.html

Thanks. That is so funny. Thou shalt not show my image, lest I smite thee with flying penises.

(^_^)©®™