Intellectual Property Rights in Second Life

There is a transcript from the in-world event with an intellectual property law attorney available at Slog. Frank Taney represents many Second Life companies and content creators, for example The Electric Sheep Company, Eros (Stroker Serpentine), Nephilaine, Munchflower, Crucial Creations and many more. Four categories of IP that are likely to be at issue in SL were covered: copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets. The sim was packed to capacity so new events of specific topics are planned!


Another transcript from IP event this time with Benjamin Duranske aka Benjamin Noble is available at Business Communicators of Second Life® blog

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An Avatar's Day in Court

Great article from UCLA’s Journal of Law and Technology by Farnaz Alemi:

An Avatar's Day in Court: A Proposal for Obtaining Relief and Resolving Disputes in Virtual World Games


two related commentary from:

Thomas Malaby

and

Benjamin Duranske

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Interview with Desmond Shang

The laws that govern residents re: gambling and other such things are largely in place via our societies, not cooked up by our virtual world service provider. Our social interactions on the grid are already largely formed by us, and these are the basis for our rulesets. We can generally tell what is intended to be someone’s virtual bedroom as opposed to the street. We can generally ascertain meaning from how people chat, interact, move, and conduct business. From these social cues, we form distinct online cultures with their own values. Should governments of nations take action? For money laundering, identity theft or other major crimes, yes. But if someone leaves a virtual flaming bag of poo on your virtual porch, no, the government should not be involved.

An interview with Desmond Shang, the owner of The Independent State of Caledon. It is very interesting article about legal issues of Second Life from practical point of view. You can find it on The Seventh Sun's webside.

Two other interesting articles:

A virtual property dispute

Court rules against Linden

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Virtual Law Conference

Virtual worlds are rapidly being adopted by a mainstream audience, with millions of users worldwide participating on a daily basis. Media, entertainment, and advertising companies are leveraging virtual worlds to generate new revenue streams and further engage audiences.

The growth of virtual worlds and massively multiplayer online (MMO) games has raised legal issues with no clear precedent. Virtual Law Conference provides a detailed examination of the legal issues raised by virtual worlds and offers key insight into where the industry is headed and what the associated legal implications are.

In April 3-4, 2008 in NYC The Section of Science and Technology Law of The American Bar Association organize an event for legal professionals whose companies or clients are currently or may in the near future be influenced by the adoption and use of virtual worlds. For more information visit this webside.

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When Pretend Money Has Real Value

The Illinois Business Law Journal is a production of the University of Illinois College of Law's Business Law Society. This project is inspired by an innovative trend in legal publication, in which weblog technology is utilized to allow students, faculty, and professionals to interact online through legal writing and scholarship; providing a unique complement to traditional law reviews. The purpose of this Journal is to provide our readers with information on recent developments affecting business law. Articles are written by law students, but we invite professors, students, and practitioners to submit articles or user comments for publication on the website. Please visit the website on a regular basis, as new articles are published frequently.

and what can we find there...

A Study of Virtual Property in Online Gaming

just one more link about Property in Second Life

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A lot of questions...

Very interesting interview with David Naylor (SL- Solomon Cortes).

Find out how complicated can be legal implications of doing business in virtual worlds.

podcast

Show notes :

00:12 - Mike O’Hara introduction
01:10 - Start of interview
01:25 - Why did FFW establish a presence in Second Life?
03:03 - Intellectual Property issues - who owns what?
04:28 - Unauthorised replicas of real world goods & brands
06:49 - Anonymity issues
10:22 - “Goods” versus “services”
11:41 - Which laws actually apply?
12:56 - How much regulation should there be in virtual worlds?
15:33 - Employment law
17:48 - Contracts, consumer protection, e-commerce law
20:24 - FFW’s activities in Second Life
22:29 - Where to find out more
23:26 - End of interview
23:47 - Lister feedback from Dale Johnstone
24:29 - Preview of next show, featuring Nick Wilson
25:07 - Wrap-up

By the way, Salomon Cortes takes over as President of the Second Life Bar Association recently :)

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The Media Revolution

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