Protecting real brand names in a virtual world
SECOND LIFE, May 11 (Reuters) - Fake Prada purses and knock-off Rolexes are usually sold on street corners, out of trenchcoats or the trunks of cars. But on Second Life, counterfeit goods can be found even in the swankiest malls and department stores.
It’s an issue that’s leaving bloggers and lawyers wondering how much it matters whether a fake Chanel dress is worn by a human or an avatar.
Benjamin Duranske, founder of the Second Life Bar Association and a real life lawyer, estimated there was trademark infringement in at least 1 percent of Second Life transactions — about 1.4 million per year. He noted on his blog, Virtually Blind, that a classifieds search for “Gucci” generates 106 hits, while “Vuitton” gets 39 and “Nike” gets the most at 186 hits. None of these companies have endorsed the virtual products.
Virtual stores that sell unauthorized Louis Vuitton purses or Ray-Ban sunglasses could sell shoddy products or otherwise misrepresent the company, which is one reason lawyers say trademark violations are an issue online as well as on the street.
“If a guy in Oklahoma is making fake Gucci bags, it’s pretty clear that they infringe, even if they are digital,” Duranske said.
Trademark lawyer Martin Schwimmer said that it’s significant that economic transactions are real on Second Life, distinguishing it from a video game. Many of the same issues are at play as when a street vendor is selling bootleg products. In both cases, the seller is using a company’s brand name to market a product.
“It is in to the realm of possibility that someone who buys a $50 Rolex will someday aspire to owning a true Rolex. But ordinarily, the ability to in effect free sample should be the right of the copyright owner, not the right of the criminal,” Schwimmer said.
The current Linden Labs policy is that if someone files an Abuse Report against trademark infringement, they investigate it and remove the products. Last week, the Police Blotter showed they gave an avatar a warning for it. So far, the company hasn’t actively tried to seek out trademark violators. Their official policy states that, “Linden staff generally removes content that uses trademarks without apparent authorization, with or without giving notice to the object owner. This generally includes all real life corporate logos and brand names.”
Duranske compared Linden Labs to an intermediary, like an Internet Service Provider, rather than an entity that should be responsible for policing trademark infringements. He argued that representatives from companies should be the ones logging in and reporting their complaints to Linden Labs. In a matter of days, he predicted they could get rid of many of the major offenders.
“Consider the real world: the U.S. government doesn’t seek out trademark infringers. It’s the companies in question who have to police their marks,” Duranske said.
In a statement, Peter Gray described Linden Labs’ process for dealing with the issue: “As it is against the law, trademark infringement is prohibited by the terms of service agreement. When Linden Lab discovers unauthorized use of trademarks, the offending items are taken down as a violation of the terms of service. The number of these instances remains at a consistently low level, and Linden Lab addresses each on a case-by-case basis.”
Clickable Culture blogger Tony Walsh predicted trademark infringement would be an issue back in 2005. He agreed it wasn’t Linden Labs’ role to scour Second Life for trademark violaters. His view is that they need to make it easier for companies to find and report them. One way to do this would be to streamline the complaint process and improve search capabilities.
“Stuff from Second Life doesn’t show up on Google (yet). Then, even if you are logged in to Second Life, the built in search tools are quite awkward and ineffective. Linden Lab can’t even find things in here,” Walsh said, as his avatar Zero Grace. “If you don’t know the exact location of something, it’s effectively hidden.”
Whether on Second Life or real life, Walsh said, corporations are far more likely to want to protect their brand names than consumers. That could explain why there are so many stores selling digital replicas without concern for the companies.
“It has nothing to do with the virtual world,” Walsh said. “Why should any average person care about corporate interests? It’s not in my interest to protect the Coca-Cola trademark. It’s not in yours.”
Companies can report violators to Linden Labs, and they can be removed. But there is still the possibility others could spring up later in their place, just like in the real world.
“If Nike goes to Chinatown and shuts down 10 sources of counterfeit Nikes, they will have to come back next week to shut down ten more,” Schwimmer said.
