Is it a question of Ethics.....?

Ive been "inworld" since the day after Beta ended,and have found some incredible items that must of taken a lot of time and brain power to create,but what worries me is this, Twice this week i have been warned"not to shop there' from more than one SL'er because some shop keepers actually stock thier stores with items that others have made, and are selling said items without the permission of the creator...i just wondered what the consensus of opinion was on this subject..does it seem unethical to put your name on something and sell it and profit from it..of course if your "inworld" long enough you know how to find who the creator was....but as in my case...when i first came into SL..i spent several thousands of dollars buying all the wonderful items i found..only now to realize that the true producer of these items...didnt get a red cent from my purchase.....wouldnt there be a way, IF the creators name is on an item...that they could get a percentage of a sale....just a thought...let me know what you folks think......

I'm very new in SL (2 days), so forgive my ignorance on certain subjects, but isn't it possible for a creator to sell an item that cannot be copied? If this is the case, why sell copiable items at all?

Furthermore, if I were a clever inventor, which I'm not (yet...) I would probably do what clever inventors IRW do, which is to invent something, and then sell the item at low profit to multiple resellers, e.g.: shopkeepers. Or, as an alternative, lease shop space from an existing shopkeeper for a nominal fee, rather than trying to spend time being both a brilliant creator and a brilliant businessman. That's just me, though, and this may have been covered before...

Objects, yes.

Textures, sound files, clothing, scripts: No. Not yet, anyway.

I would never sell anything that others made, unless it was an original.
I had a set of sofas once that I got very tired of and instead of keeping it in my inventory I decided to sell it as used items. If it was for a profit or not I have no idea- I could no longer remember the price when I first bought them.

To make money out of someone elses gifts or to sell several copies of an item you paid for once (unless there is an agreement with the creator) I find disturbing, this is very rude and disrespektful. I would go as far as calling it theft.

.:Matina:.

Unfortunetly I have seen someone selling items like this out of the rosterige apartments. Note that this is without the maker's permission to sell these items. This person was selling everything he could come across at huge markups (he was even selling things from the Bazaar) and I told him this was wrong. He argued with "Well I bought it so I can sell it." I asked him to please at least check with the owners, and I was dishearted to find he did nothing of the sort. Please, at least check with the creator on this, and if it's too big of a problem then please get a patent.

I would agree that theft has occured at least once in the SL world, and this threat continues (and probably will continue) to present itself. I think you'll find very little disagreement that selling the work of others as one's own is an unethical practice; not only does it hurt the originator of a product personally, but it puts strain on the community, the customer, and eventually the thief as well. Thieves don't steal because they understand it is unethical and have decided to be 'evil'. They are thieves because they consider the matter morally NEUTRAL or subject to someone else's responsibility. However, the practice unnecessarily denies dignity to all persons involved (including the thief) and is therefor compelling to anyone not ignoring the full outcome.

But what are the responsibilities of the consumer? I don't believe that there are RETROACTIVE responsibilities. That is, if you find out later that your product may have been stolen at the time of purchase, it is not your responsibility to right the transaction as if you had known about the scam a priori. If you're particularly upstanding, you may still find yourself driven to do some good. I think this can be done by (1) verifying your suspicions with an actual case of stolen property, (2) warning authorities, and (3) warning the community. Keep in mind that this process denies rumor-milling.

If you wanted to be REALLY nice, you could find the originator of the product and pay her/him some extra cash personally. Your solution, to give a percentage to the creator automatically, is a flawed solution I think. We CANNOT automatically force morally appropriate behavior. Forced behavior lacks moral content, and moreover it disallows dissagreement on what IS ethical. It is a bad practice to get into as a society.

If anyone out there who is selling others' work as their own and has fallen back on the old axiom, "If I can get away with it then there's no problem with it": That's really pathetic. That's the type of moral code shared by 2 year-olds and mentally stunted felons who haven't grasped that they're not the only person in the world. Nobody's going to FORCE you to change, but the fact that you have to act under the table should be clue enough that you're doing something to be ashamed of. You should shape up and act like an adult human being.

I think its unethical to do it without consent. But it should be ok if you ask the creator of the object in question if you can tweak it, resell it as your own, and your willing to pay a large amount of $ for these rights.

You know when I first opened my store I had a pair of MJ's shoes selling with one of my tuxes. I did not know that when I saw it I felt horrible. I removed it at once. I gues what kills me is a lot of the stuff I make I give away as gifts only to find them being sold later. That hurts.

If you buy and item and no longer want it I see no issue in selling that one copy.

If you got an item that is copyable that you know is not usually copyable (and you got one by mistake or other means) the ethical thing to do is not sell it.

Clothing and textures should not be sold or given without the consent of the maker. I further suggest that you should not go out and attempt to win contests wearing items made by others without noting that you were not the creator (if that is in the contest rules).

There are people who have made thousands and were rated on the backs of others. I totally disagree with this practice and it really irks me.

This happening causes more harm than people realize. It makes creators lose enthusiasim to create. It hurts the overall economy and just makes the game no fun to play.
Want the taxes lowered? Stimulate the economy. Buy and sell.

Amen Misnomer.

I lost a few thousand dollars to someone (who will remain unamed, you know who you are) who sold my hard work for less than I was charging to newbies. Impressed every single one of 'em, and they all bought it.