Trademark and Copyrights in SL...What about the following?

As posted by Torley:

"TRADEMARKS AND COPYRIGHT IN SL

In Second Life, we encourage creators to use their imagination to make content. Some create things that are inspired by real life objects, like cars or jewelry. Now that Second Life is getting larger and residents are exercising their intellectual property (IP) rights, usage of copyrighted/trademarked material has become more of an issue in Second Life.

In general, the use of trademarked/copyrighted material is frowned upon in Second Life, unless of course you own the rights to the material. To better understand your intellectual property rights, visit the Second Life website and look up our information regarding TOS and DMCA information (http://secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php). Keep in mind that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a federal law, and companies/entities can take actual legal action against a SL resident directly. Linden Lab is merely obligated to "cease & desist," meaning we will warn a resident and take the appropriate action, depending on the nature of the violation. Here are some general guidelines:


TRADEMARKED MATERIAL

Linden staff are required to remove all content utilizing trademarked materials, with or without giving notice to the object owner. This includes all RL corporate logos and brand names.

In some cases, an object may look like a RL item, IF it does not make use of any trademarked names or logos. For example, one can create a car in SL, make it look like a Mercedes Benz SL, but cannot use the name "Mercedes Benz SL" in its description or textures, nor can one use the Mercedes Benz trademarked emblems or logos. The mere shape of the car that was created is NOT trademarked (but note that making shapes to replicate actual trademarked logos is NOT acceptable). Use of designer logos and brand names, such as Gucci, Nike, Louis Vuiton, etc., are also not acceptable. Any resident may file an abuse report if they see any other resident making unauthorized use of trademarked material in SL.

For more information, visit the US Patent & Trademark Homepage: http://www.uspto.gov/index.html

You can also use their trademark look-up feature:
Use the Search tool under Trademarks on the left navigation when you go to US Patent & Trademark Homepage.
- Use the "New User Form Search (Basic)"
- Under View Search History, select "Plural & Singular " & "Live" radio buttons
- Enter the name of the business in question (ie. Nike)
- Press "Submit Query"


COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

Using copyrighted materials, like trademarked materials, is also discouraged. Lindens will not remove copyrighted material upon seeing the items in-world unless the owner of the copyrighted material notifies Linden Lab per the DMCA protocols noted on our website. http://secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php

If a DMCA notice is filed, and it meets the standard for a complete claim, Linden Lab will then expeditiously remove the indicated materials in-world and the concerned residents will be notified.

Repeated copyright or trademark violations by a resident can result in their account being placed on probation or permanently banned.


Bottom line: we encourage all our residents to be as original as possible when creating their content. If you want to exercise your IP rights, it's a conflict of interest if you're utilizing materials (textures in particular) that you don't own the rights to. You CAN create parodies (like instead of "Gucci purses", you can make "PUCCI" purses), but it would be best that you use your own branding and design your own logos. So help us protect your rights by also respecting the rights of the rightful owners of copyrighted/trademarked materials."

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The question I have is what about for ex. the ppl who sell ripped movies on SL. If anyone has rented a film recently they surely have seen the adverts and warnings about reproducing those films for profit.

The curious thing is that this goes on in SL a good bit and I doubt Dreamworks or Univeral granted these 'movie sellers' the rights to reproduce and sell for profit their works. Ive been to a few of these stores and see nothing re: the authorized written consent (needed to sell films akin to Blockbuster).

I am fairly certain that if the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) www.mpaa.org -- would approve of this let alone not take legal actions. I guess there is really only way to find out.

Any LL answers would be helpful, b/c I am curious to see if TOS and DCMA that TOS adheres to has teeth or is just a paper tiger.

Thanks.

- W

Good question, Wainwright! It's also come up before on the SL Forums, you may wish to search for previous discussion...

In a nutshell, just like it says in that document, the copyright holder can send us a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) form with the details, the infringing movies will be removed from inworld. It certainly would be adhered to once verified.