DMCA items you already stole?

[Paul Hexem]

I keep seeing this on the marketplace, and it strikes me as... Well, insane.

They steal a mesh object from a video game, such as a gun or avatar or what have you, and upload it and sell it on the marketplace. I've been seeing a lot of Dragon Age and Skyrim weapon and clothing models uploaded, for example.

Then in the listing, these sellers threaten to file a DMCA claim if you don't follow their TOU.

Let's assume the buyer doesn't know it's from these games- lots of SL residents aren't gamers. And they violate the seller's TOU. Would that even work, filing a DMCA takedown on a model you stole and uploaded illegally?

[Cerise Sorbet]

Yeah, it would probably work. DMCA is often effective even for bogus claims because the cost of following up can quickly get expensive. Even the initial counternotice requires one to divulge a lot of personal information.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Their license is not enforcable since they don't own the IP rights.  If he filed a DMCA the person filed against could just counter file tand tell them to take them to court.  Since they can't prove they own the IP rights to it I doubt they would have the guts to.