Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with Linden Lab’s leadership team, alongside fellow bloggers and some of the talented creators from the Second Life community.
During the meeting, Brad Oberwager, Executive Chair, and Philip Rosedale, Chief Technology Officer, shared details of Linden Lab’s new approach to tackling content theft and copybotting. With a refreshed strategy that includes stronger enforcement measures and even potential real-world legal action, Linden Lab wants to set a clear precedent that content theft has no place in (or outside of) Second Life
Let’s unpack these planned measures and examine how they will create a more secure and thriving environment – not just for creators, but for the entire Second Life community.
Article updated on 1/26/2025 with additional minor clarification from me within the “But That’s Not Everything” section as I have noticed comments on various social media platforms addressing the AI portion.
The Impact of Content Theft in Second Life
For as long as Second Life has existed, it has been a hub of creativity where designers, artists, builders, and animators contribute their imagination to shape the ever-changing virtual world we all share. One lingering problem however has always threatened the foundation of the ecosystem – content theft.
Copybotting, or the act of using modified viewer functionality to extract and redistribute creator content without permission, not only undermines the efforts of artists and creators but also infringes on their intellectual property, potentially impacting their livelihood.
Protecting intellectual property isn’t just a legal matter – it’s a moral imperative. Linden Lab acknowledges this and is setting out to redefine the way content theft is addressed within Second Life.
From Copyright to Real-World Theft
“In the past, we write a nasty letter, we write a takedown notice, but we haven’t gone after the person doing it. We’ve gone after the content, if you will. We’re going to change that.”
Brad Oberwager
For years, content theft in Second Life has predominantly been handled as a copyright issue. The lab would issue takedown notices against specific infringing items, and while I am sure that it has helped a lot of creators over the years, clearly it hasn’t been enough to deter individuals from profiting from stolen creations.
With a refreshed approach that treats content theft as outright real-world theft (as opposed to treating it purely as copyright infringements), Linden Lab is going to implement new policies, legal strategies, and collaborative efforts to safeguard the livelihoods of Second Life creators.
Key Measures in Linden Lab’s New Strategy
Linden Lab’s new strategy centers on ensuring accountability and taking a hard stance against offenders with a zero-tolerance approach. Here are some of the ways they are going to be combatting content theft:
1. Zero-Tolerance
Accounts proven to engage in content theft will face immediate bans, including all associated alt accounts. Fewer opportunities for offenders to sidestep accountability ultimately means a safer environment for all legitimate creators.
2. Removing All Content by Offenders
Previously, only specific items were taken down following a takedown notice. Now, Linden Lab will take down all content listed by the sellers proven to have stolen content. Even legitimate, self-created items from these sellers will be purged.
3. Cease-and-Desist and Potential Legal Action
The lab is modifying its takedown notices, adding cease-and-desist, including a defined time frame. Any continued infringement after the receipt of such a letter is going to create liability for the offender. It not only allows for potential legal action but also formalizes the seriousness of the actions.
They are effectively working on positioning themselves to be able to take legal action against repeat offenders. As Linden Lab is already in full compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) laws when residents are taking money out of Second Life, they are in a position where they can identify the individuals and hold them financially – and legally accountable.
“If we say to them it’s a cease and desist, at that moment they are now incurring liability. Anything they do past receipt of that letter also leads to liability for them. Why is that important? Because we’re changing. And we’re not just going to write letters, we’re going to go after people. We’re going to go after people in multiple ways.”
Brad Oberwager
4. Partnering with Other Companies
Content theft is not confined to Second Life – it spans various virtual worlds. Linden Lab will be collaborating with other companies to take action against offenders operating across multiple platforms.
5. Additional Ways to Report Content Theft
Linden Lab will soon add a new ticket type to its support system, streamlining the way content theft can be reported for both creators and residents. Watch for this update in the coming weeks.
6. Updated Terms and Conditions
The Terms and Conditions for Second Life are going to be updated to make it clear that stealing content is a serious violation. From my understanding, the goal here is to increase accountability and introduce stricter penalties to prevent and discourage content theft.
But That’s Not Everything
These measures are just the beginning. Linden Lab is going to continue exploring new ways to tackle content theft, including exploring technologies like AI to detect near copies of content.
Please note that based on the meeting with Linden Lab, I am absolutely not under the impression that using generative AI for this is actually planned by the lab – only that it could be an option worth exploring based on what AI currently does and how it is used in other platforms.
The lab also emphasized its dedication to working closely with the creator community to develop new strategies to identify and combat content theft.
My Thoughts on the New Approach
I think the changes Linden Lab is making here signal a promising step forward for Second Life, as every creator and resident understands how much time, effort, and creativity go into creating something unique By taking a strong stance against content theft, the lab not only protects the individual creators but also creates a space where creativity and innovation can truly thrive.
Content theft doesn’t just undermine creativity and hard work – it can directly impact livelihoods. For many creators, Second Life is more than just a virtual world, it’s a source of income and a way to sustain (and sometimes even justify) their passion.
I for one, am looking forward to seeing how protecting content is going to improve, and while I know that it’s not going to be a walk in the park, this renewed commitment to protecting creators’ content is a welcome change. I hope they remain transparent about their progress as we move forward.
I have a fear this will be used as a cudgel by greifers and malicious creators to have accounts deleted. What is the dispute system for those being accused by creators? If a creator uploads an item they purchased from turbo squid, and another uploads the same item and claims they are the original creator? Much of the Second Life furry scene exists in a grey zone of modding are these people in jeprody now? Zero Tolrance systems are authoritarian, there has to be some kind of middle ground for this.
We will have to wait for Linden Lab to come out with additional and more concise information to know for certain, however this point was being brought up during the conversation.
Linden Lab did make it clear that when people report stolen content, they want to receive concrete evidence. I would imagine that simply stating that “this is my creation” is not going to cut it.
A keyword that I remember being used several times is proof. If a claim cannot be proven they (hopefully) wont be taking action.
Overall a very valid concern you are bringing up. I have a feeling that it is not going to become chaotic. I can only imagine that LL will always initiate these takedowns with a dialogue, allowing the assumed offender to present their side and their evidence.
Right: we will take stronger action, but only when the evidence is clear. We specifically discussed the example of content downloaded from a legitimate site (like turbosquid) and then posted by two different creators in the marketplace as an example we would need to be careful about. Thanks for the comment.
Thank you Phil.
This makes me feel alittle better, but we’ll see when the rubber meets the road. 🙂
Yeeeaaaah thats gonna be a fun run.
You’ll have people who swiped it from Store A, then sell it on turbo squid, then Person B, and C both buy it thinking it’s legit,m only to upload it on here and get knocked out by the new policy. How could they possibly know that it was stolen? They paid for it, and the rights to use it thinking they’re in the right. So they would lose their account and their money.
And lets not pretend Sl isnt full of petty people who will file reports of theft just to knock out the competition. How deep will the investigation go before an account is killed? , and what protocols will be set into place to protect the user from such ass moves?
I can only imagine the ticket pile of people going, Oh they stole my head! see it has the same Uvs but both people used DAZ or ripped it from the same game.
How is this new AI system going to handle that?
I think this is an important point but, thinking from a 3D designer perspective, I’d never request copyright over a model purchased on a 3D website. It’d had never been my own creation to start. I model my creations and I’d be comfortable fighting for my rights, but I’d never fight based on receipts if I knew I was only uploading and preparing. If one will arguee that geometry can be modified, my god, I’d say if you have enough skills to modify beautifully done high poly meshes, just do it yourself, it’s much simpler. Modifying someone else’s work is always the worst nightmare. No one that can back proof their files will be at risk.
Will this only concern the theft of SL creations? Or will it also address people who rip video game models to sell as avatars?
You will have to consult with Linden Lab directly for an accurate answer, however this was also brought up during the meeting and the existing DMCA process continues to be in place and operate as it has always done. The IP owners are responsible for filing a DMCA notice to Linden Lab.
If you see content that you believe has been ripped from video games, my suggestion is to contact the developer or publisher of the video game directly and inform them of the possible infringement.
Hope that helps!
Blowing smoke out of their rear end to make it look like they care. They don’t.
Almost 2 decades of “tv systems” selling copyrighted movies in-world and in the marketplace, and not a single action about it. They only legitimize content theft.
Search “tv” in the marketplace and you’ll get HIVID, VEA, XTV, KOSMI.. just to name a few. Visit Hivid in-world, there’s literally thousand of movies being sold individually.
But ohhh the dreaded copybotters. Yeah, nevermind the ped0s and the money laundering schemers.
That’s such a whataboutism.
What’s pedophiles got to do with people’s creation being stolen?
Thanks for ignoring the rest of the message and focusing on your prefered topic.
I was actually refering to the legal department actualy ENFORCING their latest “policy update” regarding ped0sh1ts.
For example, you can still go to the marketplace, look for kid related keywords and get naked child AVs displayed with no modesty layer, listed under Adult.
> Visit HiVid in-world; there’s literally thousand of movies being sold individually.
That seems to be a bulk licensing deal. Swank, MPLC, and Criterion offer licenses for movies in bulk. Hotels, cruise ships, hospitals, colleges, and jails sign up for such deals. HiVid seems to have signed up for a deal that covers a few hundred second-tier movies. They don’t have the latest big titles; that costs more.
They do though, Barbie was released as soon as it was on streaming platforms and Wicked too just recently. They sell new releases too and even disney which I’m pretty sure they don’t have a licence for.
I will try to investigate this a bit further and see if I it’s something that I can bring some attention to.
I know that it is going to be a touchy subject for a lot of people because I feel that there’s an increasingly large amount of homes inworld where you’re greeted with their logo on a television set inside. I have started with some initial preliminary research and have reached out to five studios so far with more to come, but I want to make sure that I cover all bases on this one.
Get ready for the push back.
All these “homes” as you mentioned, they don’t want anyone to talk about it.
The mask will come off real quick if you do, as we just witnessed in here.
Neither do the execs at Linden.
There’s more layers to this but my family doesn’t want to spend the winter outside in the cold.
If you’re one of the good ones, take your findings and report it @ iprcenter.gov/referral/report-ip-theft-form but don’t put your neck out if you have something to lose.
Known creator defending copyright thiefs? Not just thiefs, but acually reselling it for a profit.
How many pirated movies from Hivid have you purchased?
And please do tells us more about this pseudo deal that you seem to be in know of.
Instead of complaining to the four winds, you are more than welcome to help me and others file abuse reports.
I’ve been in SL almost 18 years and learned long ago that I had a choice – I could sit on forums and complain about what everyone else is and isn’t doing… Or I could actually start doing something about it myself.
I’ve lost count of the number of abuse reports I’ve submitted, and I have seen actions have been taken!
Are YOU willing to do something to help?
I’d like to know where your proof is? I heard from someone who’s opinion I trust, that HIvid [no idea on the others, never heard of any of them] is using the same licensing hotels use. I will continue to assume so until I see proof to the contrary, you just stating you think it’s illegal just because of the amount of content on offer doesn’t make it so. If you have proof, by all means post it, I’d love to see it, but if not, your just posting hearsay based on your opinion.
Tell me your inventory is full of copyrighted stolen movies without saying so.
You must believe in fairy tales too, to think that they have a ‘license’ to resell movies online that are still in the cinemas.
“I’d like to know where your proof is?”
“I heard from someone who’s opinion I trust”
Ask your imaginary friend for his evidence. Oh wait..
I do own a HIVid, I don’t make a secret of it, I just got it recently and I own 12 movies. I have no reason to believe anything is up without evidence, that’s how people lives get destroyed by false claims, or don’t you care about that?
Second of all, that is bold claim to assume about me just because I refused to believe you, a complete stranger on faith alone, someone who supposedly has said evidence but is supposed to scared to stuck their neck out but has no problem accusing others of doing nothing or expecting others to fight in your place while refusing to give said evidence [which is suspicious in it’s self].
So again, if you have evidence, present, I’d happily delete my TV and all it’s movies if I had reason to believe it was infringement, I’ve deleted things from my inventory for similar reasons [I.e every tattoo I own from Carol G. Who I do know does copy others artwork, and yes I can back that up if asked.]
What I will not do is assume someone has violated a copyright without sufficient evidence, I will not assume guilty until proven innocent.
If you really have such evidence but are unwilling to provide, then your just as much a problem as anyone violating it, and should feel badly for teaching you family that it’s okay to let it slide when your own way of life is at risk, you can just simply let others do your fighting for you and hold them accountable for trying to fight instead.
You sound proud of your 12 movies. Congratulations!
You could buy the L$30,000 Hivid franchise kit instead, get all the movies and even resell them under the magic license that everyone smart knows about.
nevermind, the franchise kit doesn’t let you watch all the movies, I’m bummed.
🙁
I’m sorry but you can’t seriously believe Disney have given them a licence to stream these movies in world? Disney don’t hand out licences easily, to the point that any they do are usually temporary and cost a ton of money. I believe they have a streaming licence that lets them stream movies that were released before a certain time but new releases would come at quite a higher premium and most of their movies cost less than $4 real money. There’s no way they’d make enough to cover a general disney licence (a friend was quoted $500’000 for an in world streaming licence for 1 year with limitations ex no new releases and this was in 2020).
Please take your head out the sand and think rationally, they’re not being fully legit.
Replying to my own comment, because the reply button is not showing on the responses.
As I said before, I’ll take action when someone provides proof and before hand. If you or anyone here has it let’s see, otherwise your just asking for blind faith in a baseless opinion, I won’t do it.
I won’t slander, accuse or punish a creator without direct proof, we all saw such an incident go down in the past, unless your head was in the sand. It was called GenusProject, a whole year of lost business a damaged reputation and all by someone who seemed to have all the right stuff at first glance, except that on further inspection it was all fake.
It may sound all sound and amazing to say, this is blatant, but without proof, without all the fact you have NO IDEA. Facts should not be a hard or vile thing to ask for in something so important, this isn’t game, it isn’t a crusade, it’s people’s LIVES, that is a very important thing to get right. You can try to villainize me for demanding something that should step one for any investigation all you want, but I will not ruin someone’s life and livelihood without proof!
So again, for the umpteenth time, you ether have proof, in which let’s present it and let us have it [and again if it does exist, I genuinely want to see it], or you have nothing except your own opinion in which, you have nothing to base anything on in which case your opinions are of zero concern to me and flat out useless until such time as you have some.
I think you have to be working for them either as one of their paid csr people or you have a “friend” who does to be defensive over them this much.
You won’t slander them but are happy to act like because someone told you so then it has to be legit.
I hope they do come out as legit. I own one of the tvs but I’m not about to sit here believing they’ve got legit licences for everything they’re doing.
Good day and enjoy your tv. Lol.
Serves to show the mentality of most SL users.
They cry out loud when someone makes a “copy/inspired by” of their favorite hair, but then they’ll defend criminals who rip and resell movies to suckers in SL.
That’s why this new LL move is a nothing burger.
As someone pointed out, it’s a PR move, and likely because “someone” with $ showed interest in acquiring but had concerns regarding stolen IP.
Smoke and mirrors.
I don’t work for them, and your free to go by the store and see, all you’ve is show you care more about insults and defamation then providing evidence. Which you clearly don’t have or you would be providing it.
But thank you for for all of you “smoke and mirrors” and showing everyone here the type of people you both are. If you think no one reading notices the lack of willingness to provide actual evidence, you are sadly mistaken.
I’m officially done here until such time someone here actually has some proof and not just accusations.
Comiclaly, Hivid even has a “franchise kit” now for the nice price of L$30,000
Must be this special license that Hotels have, that allows guests to resell movies too after they used the book a room, and it only cost $100.
Can you imagine? You get to watch and resell all movies for L$30,000. What a bargain!
I have no words for how dumb this whole thing is.
As someone who buys raw content on other platforms such as Turbosquid that has a license to resell, I’m now wondering if all my content is at risk continually and will I have to defend my purchases every time a content creator buys and distributes the same item? I also make high quality original full perm furniture, but my business model has proven that lower cost items that were sourced elsewhere are more profitable for me. So in some regards my honesty will work against me and become a huge pain in the butt, especially if an algorithm is at play.
Please see the comment from Philip Rosedale further up in this comment section where he addresses Turbosquid as a prime example. I don’t think you have anything to worry about in that regard but still a very valid point and is definitely something that Philip and the team needs to consider going forward!
You can’t use Turbosquid items in SL so if you are using models from there (even on commercial license) your work should and will be nuked.
And to help the user who has broken the IP rules on Turbosquid – here is the direct call out: Using TurboSquid 3D Models in Virtual Worlds.
This use is prohibited if the virtual world-type is an open MMO, like Second Life
Thank you. I personally haven’t ever used any of those platforms so I have very limited knowledge in this area, but it makes sense that there would be restrictions in place.
I would also imagine that license restrictions would often include clauses preventing resale of the assets. Either way, a great callout for creators to ensure that they are not in breach of the license terms!
“Even legitimate, self-created items from these sellers will be purged.”
Isn’t that is going to cause a lot of problems, due to Copyright/Trademark trolls?
On the flip side, LL will require stronger proof, and also provide opportunity for the accused to defend.
And probably users that keep submitting false reports will themselves be banned.
The impression that I was left with – and something that both Brad and Philip made very clear, is that they are not going to take any action if they are not absolutely certain that the creations were stolen from other creators.
Cool! Wake me up when you guys stop illegally ignoring takedown notices and I’ll believe you’re serious about content theft.
Ridiculous, so people that steal from video games will still be totally okay, because trying to get the IP owner like Sega or ACTIVISION or even Square Enix , is almost impossible with how many people you have to get through to send a message, it’s clear was fng day they stole it froma game and yet they get a free pass
Just ridiculous.
Which creator asked for this – come on we want names.
No creators I know (as a very successful one myself) asked for this.
All this will take is one individual from a country that does not care, to file mass take downs on a creator they don’t like showing images of the work slightly altered (it doesn’t have to be on SL) with faked timestamps. Especially the fashion crowd. Now imagine that individual gets a few friends to do the same. That creator is then going to what? Show their time stamp and working to LL who will then what….. adjudicate copyright law in the US. No they have to follow the DMCA rules and take it down and now with the “new way” all their stuff gets nuked – overnight one creator put out of business and their whole SL work ruined. The people who put things up on “that website” that shall not be mentioned, will now rip it and file from China or Brazil or somewhere a takedown on the original in masses. Well done which ever SL creator thought they could get LL to work on something that is not needed.
NOBODY ASKED FOR THIS.
This is like LL back in the early days going off on quests for things that in reality give little value based on a few emotional rants from a few creators who think they are “the voice” who can’t grasp that those buying rips wouldn’t buy their stuff anyway so they lose nothing.
So I am going to really enjoy seeing big name fashion creators now griefed and then crying. Just like the woman “famous creator” who shared her accounts access without getting the prior permission required with family then crying when LL shut her down for a few days as she couldn’t follow simple TOS rules and thought she was outside of the rules.
Good luck creators. You are now going to need it. You should also find out who suggested this and speak to them to tell them their power quest is beyond damaging to creators.
Sorry and one final thought.
The guys selling the “copybot” version are not doing it on SL (so LL have no way to know who they are so the whole “KYC stuff” is moot).
They run discord channels where they get the item sell it, mod it.
Think you have a watermark LOL. No they just take that out and put in their own.
They link into old files on their 3D tools and voila timestamp of file creation.
They sell it – the new creator uploads.
They file the take down then on the original creator as it was their own work outside SL.
Now Fashion Creator Number 1 is going to need to HOPE LL can adjudicate copyright effectively. Is it a derivative, is it who first made, is it made up from derivative parts from various sources. If LL get it wrong. Fashion Creator Number 1 WHOLE store is deleted. Bingo, one less competition in the market.
Hopefully this explains why many of us creators are concerned that this small group of creators brought this forward are not speaking for those of us with sensible views. We do not consent or agree to this idea for risk of having our stores removed (with fully legitimate content) as you have now made LL the copyright judge and that’s not something they are equipped to do nor do they have the expertise to do so (even with AI).
Just ask all the students who have gotten incorrect AI flags on course work as being AI generated when it’s original (or AI says pieces of work from the prior 2000s were AI generated).
Philip PLEASE put your focus back on sorting out the technical opportunities. This is time wasting from your team and we need better. Of course me writing that here is non sensical but as they locked the forum post (quite telling)… without comment it was my own window of communication.
Unless we all now get access to this “creators” discord to start finding out who was behind this and start to speak up!
As a side note, KYC’s can be bought for $100, as demosntrated in recent court cases involving crypto exchange bankrupcies.
Or how about we change the culture that leads people down the path to copybotting. Spending their money on items, bodies ect and having to beg for the privilege to make a a shirt for something you invested serious coin on.
They say they want to bring RL standards and measures well tell me in what world is it okay for you to spend money on something and then not be able to modify it, how many of you ask permission from your computer company to modify it? to add and take things out?, That’s just silly right. In the world of Real when you spend money on something, it becomes yours, and once it;s yours you can what you want with it.
Do we have to change things from Buying to rentals, in order for this logic to make sense.
On top of that, lets talk about the elephant in the room.
You paid for this stuff, all of these items, and you have no way to back them up. if one day the shoe drops and SL shuts down, all that you’ve bought goes down with it.
I don;t know about y’all but ive been on this game for 18 years. and looking at my paypal transcripts Ive paid over 10k into the SL Machine, and I dont buy much. I can only imagine how much money those who actually shop spent.
All of that money and nothing to show for it but some nice memories and pictures.
Wow. These fire and brimstone comments remind me of 2006-2007. I myself was infamous for incessant and over-the-top rage-ranting on the forums over content getting copied like crazy back then. I’ve since grown up and see the big picture and understand the challenges. But it’s a lot of fun seeing that rage-ranting in essay form is still a thing.
I admire you Linden-folk for your ability to filter and process. Where’s Torley Linden and his pink and green watermelons when you need him? He’d be an awesome asset nowadays! I miss him dearly.
I appreciate the effort you all are making and understand the nature of the beast. This kind of thing has no simple solution; only guidelines. You’re not fools and I’m not worried. As the old saying goes, for you Lindens and content theft reduction, this ain’t your first rodeo!
Given that most creators I’ve seen use full perm parts from full perm sellers, what happens when we find out one of these full perm sellers turns out to be ripping stuff? Does everyone lose all there accounts and items – or just the full perm sellers?
I guess everyone loses the stuff they bought from the full perm seller with no real recourse, and everyone that bought their creations that they made with the full perm stuff loses their items too. So, that’s a lot of people losing a lot, which for the most part is really no fault of their own.
What happens when someone decides they want to pursue what they lost, do they go after the creator that used full perm items in their “mashup”? I guess they essentially (unknowingly) sold stolen goods?
While I think it’s good to get rid of ripped stuff, I think there needs to be some leniency for those who didn’t know what they bought was bad.
It used to be you could abuse-report claims of copyright infringement; this was removed from the viewer form and those with such claims had to file DMCAs. In some ways this is better; in some ways it is worse because some people want to report, for example, copybotted gatcha rares, but don’t own the item and/or don’t want to give their real name and address. So I’m curious to see what this new reporting mechanism will be like and where it will sit.
You don’t get into the question of registration of creators, which — voluntary or not — really changes the free and democratic nature of SL where a wide variety of levels of creativity are recognized. If creators are only those who are recognized through registration, a lot will be lost of the “soul” of SL.
I agree. It will be interesting to see and follow how the reporting mechanism is going to be implemented – including how it will be managed and what the turnaround times will look like.
I did not cover the registration of creators mainly because it was not on the agenda of the conversation at all, it was something that was raised by a creator as a question I believe and based on the response from the Lab during the call, it did not seem to be anything that they want to consider at this point as it would be difficult for them to realistically implement in a way that would be fair to every creator.
If registration/verification would come at a price, that would leave out a lot of creators, if it was based on tenure, then that would be unfair to new creators and if it was open for all to apply for, then the handle time would be terribly long, or even impossible in terms of ever getting to everyone.
From what I recall they did not outright reject the idea, but indicated that currently they cannot see it being possible – and I think that’s the right stance.
“curious to see what this new reporting mechanism will be like and where it will sit”
Likely a nothing burger, just like the “age play policy update”.
Almost a year later and the marketplace is still full of kid content listed under Adult, and even some naked ones.
a friend of mine was a premium member from the start of his second life. For 14 years he was happily producing content without any problems and helping those in need. for a long time he sold the content he produced without any problems in the market. one day when he couldn’t get his avatars into the world from the viewer, he contacted. the answer came: sorry, you were banned for inappropriate content… you didn’t warn, you didn’t inform. my friend was very upset and said goodbye to the second life. the avatars and the 600 usd he earned died. whereas premium members should have been treated more sensitively. now I can’t bring that friend into the second life, although I want it very much. i hope that the rights of honest people are protected. respectfully:)
Hi, Tjay!
Thank you for your helpful summary of the meeting.
Could you please expand on this point, though?
2. Removing All Content by Offenders
Previously, only specific items were taken down following a takedown notice. Now, Linden Lab will take down all content listed by the sellers proven to have stolen content. Even legitimate, self-created items from these sellers will be purged.
It’s provoked a lot of discussion in the SL Official Forum, as you may have noticed, with people unsure from whose inventory this content will be removed. That is, if I’ve bought in good faith something created by someone who is later found also to have illegitimately uploaded and sold something belonging to a third party, from whose inventory is the legitimate item removed? Just that of the offender, or is my copy removed too?
Hi Innula,
From my recollection, this only relates to listings by the offender, not the copies that may be present in customers inventories.
It does raise an interesting question though – and while I don’t believe that they would ever remove non-infringing purchases of legitimate products from anyone’s inventories, I am fairly certain that at least in some cases, they would not really have any choice but to remove copies of the infringing items from people’s inventories.
If challenged, I don’t think Linden Lab would have any choice but to compensate the end-users, at least in cases where the customer cannot be reasonably expected to have known that the item was in fact infringing on someone else’s intellectual property, and if the loss is big enough for the lab, they could then choose to pursue the offender.
In cases of extremely obvious infringement, and where they could argue that no one purchased the said item in good faith, I could see that the lab would choose not to compensate the customers on removal. An example here could be a pair of sneakers with the Nike logo on them.
Overall it’s a complex problem with many variables and not only those that are of legal or technical nature but also morally complex. At the end of the day Linden Lab does not get anything positive out of punishing the end customers.
It will be easier to analyze and digest once we see the updates to the Terms and Conditions.