Copyright infringement?

Via Email (last name removed to protect individual)

[7:23] Fizik: Hi Toshi, can I ask a favour. Can you remove the adidas clothing you're selling?

I don't have a problem with that though did you have a particular vendor in mind? Why are you making this request, out of curiosity?

[9:39] Fizik: we're the people from Rivers Run Red, we're the team behind adidas and reebok in Second Life
[9:40] Fizik: they asked us to sweep for copies, we said we would do that ask ppl to remove.

I'll remove the logo from the outfit but I won't be able to get to it this weekend.

[9:46] Fizik: thats cool, appreciate it. we're doing this so they copy-police at adidas don't have to get all legal on LL

And so it begins... with more companies entering SL you're going to see an increase in brand sweeping throughout SL for copies. My personal thought is that other than making $Lindens, which isn't enough for a multi-million dollar company like Adidas, I guess the only reason for this is they want one company or design firm to make and sell that brand's clothing in game. Seems reasonable to me, esp since no one owns Adidas except for Adidas.

Well, it sounds like they are at least being quite civil about it.

As I understand it, legally, they HAVE to act against cases that they become aware of , where someone uses their logo without permission. Failing to do so is considered an act that can contribute to them eventually losing the copyright on that logo.

To play devils Advocate here... how do you know that person who contacted you like this was for real? How does anyone know if they are really from the company or just some guy who has a pet peeve for copyright infringement?

Fizik is legit, and a very nice guy to boot. If RRR hadn't asked you to remove it then LL would have if they'd noticed it. Use of corporate logos is a no no. Wouldn't matter if it was Adidas, Coke, Ford, or anyone else. This has been the policy in SL since the very beginning and has nothing to do with the recent influx of real world corporations, but I suspect it will cause more vigorous enforcement.

Vintage Adidas is the only article of clothing I have that uses the Adidas logo. All the rest are my designs. Plus I have lots more design ideas. So I'm not worried too much about this one incident. My clothing designs are my own.

Let's make sure we're talking about the right thing here. Nothing mentioned in the OP has anything to do with copyright. It's trademark. Huge difference there.

Ceera is correct that trademark holders are legally bound to stop others from using their trademarks, lest they can lose their ownership. For example, I understand a few years back Matt Groening had to sue a kid who was making and distributing his own Bart Simpson T-shirts. He of course didn't want to sue a little boy; no one would, but he had to. If he didn't lay the smack down on it, he'd then be powerless to stop anyone else from using Simpsons trademarks from then on.

Trademarks only last as long as they're protected. Once they're considered to be genericized or surrendered, that's it.

So yeah, Adidas not only has the right to ask you not to use their brand name, they're obligated to do everything they can to stop you. It was good of them to ask you nicely. They could easily have sicked their lawyers on you. As Chip said, Fizik's a great guy. Count yourself lucky that he headed off any trouble by approaching you himself, rather than waiting for Adidas themselves to get involved.

Now that that's out of the way, there is another important topic to discuss in this thread. Did Fizik give you permission to quote him here? Posting chat logs without the permission of all involved, whether it be here on the SL forums or anywhere else, is a violation of the Second Life Community Standards, and a serious breach of people's right to privacy. You can end up suspended or banned from SL for such actions.

Unless Fizik did indeed give you the okay, you should remove the chat log from your original post before you get in trouble. I'd also suggest that you apologize to Fizik. Unless he did give his consent to be quoted, he'd be in the right to be a bit miffed at you right now. It's no one's business what he said to you but yours and his.

I've noticed a large number of "fandom" type stores with band and film t-shirts, jackets, etc. for sale. These are also protected - usually by very aggresive companies with huge marketing campaigns and income at risk.

With Warner Bros. and Sony in SL "copy policing" of this type of stuff is going to become more and more common. Just a word to the wise ... SL is going to go more mainstream and these companies are going to have to protect their trademarks and copyrights. They don't want a class suit filed by their stockholders.

It's a comin' ... so get ready.