Why do I only have to file a DMCA if my items are stolen and are being resold???

[Deila Carminucci]

This is the store in question, I am the owner and creator of these ripped leggings https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/HARD-8-Ripped-Leggings-Rocker-PROMO/4988068

Thisperson has also stolen from other creators as well. Why is filing a DMCA the only way to get it taken down from the marketplace? Is LL going to do anything about these "resellers" on the MP that are buying templates or copybotting and then reselling them?

[KarenMichelle Lane]

Simple: The DCMA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] is THE method by which copyrighted Intellectual Property is protected world-wide! Linden Research Inc as well as a few million other distribution channels are all governed by this International Treaty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act

Linden Research owns the Market Place Distribution system and as such is in a position to uphold this important Act.

You own the IP Rights over the items being copied therefore you can request a resolution via the provisions of the DCMA.

If a store in RL repeatedly offers for sale, items that infringe on others IP rights, there are other laws that may be used to call into question the practices and ethics of that place of business. A RL buyer doesn't always know that they are not dealing with the original creator of an IP protected creation. But that requires an investigation by the requisite authorities, usually the FBI in the US.

There is no such department inside of Second Life.

 

[Rolig Loon]

I'm not sure what your complaint is.  As the creator of the items in question, you have the legal standing to file a DMCA complaint against the owner of that Marketplace store.  DMCA is a federal law.  Under its provisions, Linden Lab is required to remove the item in question from its servers.  That's a pretty solid enforcement mechanism. I don't understand why you might want any softer mechanism instead.  If you recognize items in that shop that other creators have made, I encourage you to notify them so that they can file their own DMCA complaints.

As a matter of practicality, Linden Lab doesn't have time or the staff to go through every Marketplace store item by item to verify somehow that those items weren't copied illegally.  They have to rely on reports from the creators themselves, since nobody else can be as sure to identify the work. 

Please note that Lindens never come to this resident-to-resident Answers area, so there's no way that anyone here can address deeper philosophical questions about Marketplace policies. All any of us can do is speculate.

[LishaJoya Haven]

Ok for one....

you can ASK the person to take it down---and explain the situation in a PROFESSIONAL way
►MOST designers are reasonable and WILL take it down

If that doesnt work...then yes file a DCMA

BUT you have the burden of PROOF that its your creation as well

She might have gotten this from a kit and retextured it as well-- or she might have actually designed it herself

Designers in SL FULL PERM pre made kits for some of us with lesser skills for thatkind of thing...you need to consider that as well before u go around pointing fingers

Then you go around assuming its your creation....and naming names...which is totally unprofessional--- in my opinion

I understand that you are upset - but naming names is not the way to go especially here....see because u metnioned the name--- i like those leggings and i JUST MIGHT buy a pair-- so u inadvertantly gave them advertizement--- i dont think that was your intention...but you did as you were trying to SHAME a person publiclyy based on ASS_UMPTIONS

 

►from my experience-- ihave had a dcma ---and the person sent me it over a texture organizer....IMd the person---apologizing andi took it down HAPPILY--because the person didnt SHAME or try to UPSET ME --they were quite kind and professional....YOU SHOULD TAKE NOTES

 

[Montana Corleone]

This is a question of copyright. As such it is a legal means.

Linden Lab has neither the time nor the staff to adjudicate on any quibble and decide on its validity. Copyright law internationally is based on the Berne Convention, which guarantees the same rights to authors (creators). It is now handled by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

http://www.wipo.int/portal/en/index.html

Digital files and electronic data are covered by copyright, and all objects in SL are essentially electronic data and thus covered. Each country enacts laws which enforce the WIPO agreements. In the US this was done by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), other countries have passsed their own acts. Since Linden Lab is based in California, it comes under US jurisdiction, and thus whichever country you are in you file a DMCA complaint. So DCMA is not a global or world wide mechanism, but the one you must use for companies under US jurisdiction.

The procedure is that you file the DMCA and then they are legally obligated to take down the offending material. Note that filing a false DMCA is committing an act of perjury, itself a criminal offence.

This is done because it is not feasible for service providers to vet everything that gets posted on their systems. There are more web pages than humans on the planet for example. I'm not sure how many inventory items have accumulated in the Linden Lab asset servers, but it must be huge, in the hundreds of millions of items if not more. An earlier date of entry into their systems is no guarantee that it's the original, because copyright is granted at the instant of creation, which will usually be on somebody's computer before they upload it.

Once the DCMA is filed, it effectively becomes part of the judicial system. Under certain conditions people can file a counter claim, but essentially these disputes move then in to the legal system and copyright and true ownership decided by courts. Since the DCMA is a US law, and Linden Lab a US company, this would be in the US courts.

 Note that in order for a country's citizens to have worldwide protection, they have to grant a minimum set of rights to any creator whether living in their country or not and enforce infringements. For copyright this is mostly based on the Berne Convention, WIPO adds in other forms of IP protection, such as trademarks, patents and so on. However they are free to allow larger or longer rights, and to change the conditions for their own citizens, but must respect the international rules for others.

For instance, copyright protection under Berne and WIPO states that copyright is automatic on creation and registration of works is not required. However the US government has decided that for its own citizens, copyright is automatic, but if they wish to take court action to defend their work then they must register the copyright work. A work thus not registered cannot be defended in court for US citizens. However foreigners both living in the US and abroad can, because that right is granted under the treaties. This has come up here and other places, and many US citizens have described it as unfair and an example of the UN or other body interfering. Apart from the fact that the UN is not involved, it's actually the US Government that decided to apply that restriction to its own citizens. But it means any non-US national can defend their copyright works in US courts without having US registration of their work, as intended by the international treaties.