Merchants decry Second Life copyright chaos

By Eric Reuters

SECOND LIFE, Nov 7 (Reuters) - When virtual adult products mogul Kevin Alderman discovered exact copies of his products circulating in Second Life earlier this year, he contacted Linden Lab, desperately searching for a remedy.

“We begged them, please do something about this,” said Alderman (Second Life: Stroker Serpentine), who is now at the center of two real-world copyright infringement lawsuits. “We filed abuse reports. We filed DMCA’s. And nothing’s been done.”

As Second Life grows larger and the number of entrepreneurs selling virtual goods expands, copyright infringement and trademark protection have emerged as one of the most pressing problems affecting in-world businesses. But Second Life businesspeople say they are frustrated at the unclear rules and remedies from Linden Lab, which merchants say has ignored DMCA filings, forcing them to take several recent cases to court

Linden has a detailed page with instructions on how to file a complaint under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which provides a mechanism for copyright-holders to seek relief if their designs are copied online.

The act specifically protects Internet service providers with a “safe harbor” clause, shielding them from liability if their networks or services are used by copyright infringers, provided that they remove pirated content upon receiving a complaint.

But virtual worlds like Second Life represent something lawmakers couldn’t have conceived of when the DMCA was drafted in 1996, said Sean Kane, a lawyer specializing in virtual worlds. “The reason the DMCA was enacted was for companies like AOL,” Kane said. “I don’t think courts will look at it and say Linden Lab is an Internet service provider.”

Whether the DMCA applies to new Internet companies like Linden Lab or YouTube is unclear, Kane said.

To be protected from liability, a company cannot make judgments about the content on its site, and cannot directly benefit from it, Kane said. Courts could rule that freely available copies contribute to Second Life’s overall usage. “It’s hard for Linden Lab to argue they don’t benefit financially,” Kane said.

In addition, the company has moved to selectively remove specific content related to gambling and depictions of underage sex, which may put its status as an ISP in question.

Even as the applicability of the DMCA to Second Life is in doubt, residents complain DMCA complaints they’ve filed with Linden Lab have been ignored.

Alderman said when he first discovered avatar Volkov Catteneo was selling duplicates of his product, he filed a complaint under the DMCA with Linden. “We got nothing back,” Alderman said.

Alderman’s co-plaintiffs in his second copyright infringement suit, against Thomas Simon (Second Life: Rase Kenzo), filed DMCA complaints before resorting to litigation. Linda Baca, known in Second Life as Rebel Hope, is one of the merchants who accuses Simon of copying her designs. She had no success with Linden on a DMCA in a previous, unrelated incident, but her business partner filed a complaint against Simon anyway.

Baca called Linden Lab asking what the status of her filing was. “I was told they would be handled in the order they were received and to be patient,” Baca said.

Baca said she never received a response from Linden to either DMCA notification.

Simon, the target of the complaint, said there was no investigation. “I never heard from Linden Lab, ever,” Simon said. He called the allegations against him a “publicity stunt” but declined to comment further on his case until he secures legal counsel.

Despite numerous complaints of inaction, Linden Lab insisted that it complies with DMCA filings.

“We respond to clear notices of alleged infringement, and when a notice is difficult to understand, or does not provide information required by the DMCA, we take steps to notify the claimant of these issues and request supplemental information as appropriate,” said a spokeswoman for Linden Lab in a written statement.

The confusing legal landscape for copyright protection in Second Life means that ultimately, victims of piracy will have to rely on lawyers, and not count on the protection of the DMCA, said Kane.

“It’s one more thing to show the virtual world has the same problems as the real one,” he said.