Linden Labs crediting content creators?

In another question in the answer forum, Torley mentioned the premise of giving credit to content creators for images that prominently feature a creator's product. I think this is a very sound and fair policy to adhere to.

However, I have observed several instances where it seems, at least on the surface, that Linden Labs didn't follow this policy themselves. Examples:

1. A press release described the Second Life Relay for Life, but didn't mention a single content creator...and more or less left the impression that Linden Labs was primarily / wholly responsible for its success
   
2. the image on the Second Life home page includes several avatars that are the products of in-world content creators; notably, the Minotaur avatar is a product of Jakkal. No mention of the content creators exists anywhere that I can find, again leaving the impression that the content is Linden Lab's
   

I recognize that there *are* lots of instances where LL has given fair credit. And for some (most) of the content creators, simply seeing their own work displayed may be satisfaction enough.

But it seems to me that this should be consistent: wherever content developed by residents is prominently featured, every reasonable effort should be made to credit that resident. It could be as simple as a "about this image" link, or something like that.

Could we get some clarity that the *intent* is (or is not, if that is the case) to have a policy like this? And that the PR folks will be reminded of this periodically?

Thanks!

Tomas, nice to see you here too! *travels from the blog*

Great, great question.

First, it certainly isn't intentional to not credit Residents. That's a double-negative, so to simplify: we intentionally credit them.

While I can't speak for all Lindens and these are my personal views, throughout my Second Life, I've been absolutely adamant to namedrop as much as possible, singing the praises and celebrating our wonderful content creators! And I can never do it enough, so I don't do a complete wardrobe breakdown in every picture I take. However, some, or a lot, is better than none.



Okay, so you can see me: I'm wearing a skin by Mistress Midnight, a dress by Nephilaine Protagonist, eyes by Munchflower Zaius, hair by Lost Thereian, choker by Jade Lily, cat by Vivico Flan, and there are other elements which aren't showing but, for example: shoes by Compulsion Overdrive.

So in light of all this, it's important we emphasize as much as possible that the content in this world is user-created, and that we provide the tools to make it happen.

(Wish we could mouseover for hover tips as easily as inworld, eh?)

We do strive to be consistent but it's also context-sensitive, since each project is different. There are times when proper attribution is desired but gets missed--in cases like those, please don't hesitate to let us know. And some cases in which I've had to go out of my way NOT to credit to someone because, ah, eccentric artists are like that.

Sometimes, it isn't so much about the legality as it is about being a nice person, and saving time when multiple queries get asked, "Who made that and where can I get it?"

Re: PR materials and attribution, please contact Catherine Linden (catherine@lindenlab.com). We'll do the best we can.