IceMistress Soulstar Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I need a question answered, not sure if this is the place to ask. If you use a saying in secondlife or a gesture that someone comes up to you and says hey you cant use this gesture or saying cause i have legal rights over it and can sue you in RL for it and have your account taken in SL. Is this possible, or even at all factual?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcat Furse Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 IceMistress Soulstar wrote: I need a question answered, not sure if this is the place to ask. If you use a saying in secondlife or a gesture that someone comes up to you and says hey you cant use this gesture or saying cause i have legal rights over it and can sue you in RL for it and have your account taken in SL. Is this possible, or even at all factual?? Just mute the person and move on enjoying second life *meows* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peewee Musytari Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Thats too vague to answer. If it was a company`s registered and licensed slogan, then probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceMistress Soulstar Posted March 23, 2011 Author Share Posted March 23, 2011 its not a companys slogan or trademark, but this person claims to have this gesture legally binding to her thru secondlife? I dont see how that is possible to sue someone in rl and make SL take the account for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireschen Hesten Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 unless it's copyrighted a trademark etc or a corporate slogan your not going to get banned for using it, it would have to be down to the copyright owner or company to file a DMCA against the person that created the gesture LL might ban the person that created the gesture remove it and replace the asset of the gesture with an item known as IP replacement which effects everyone that owns that gesture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perrie Juran Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 For a word or phrase to be trademarked it has to be tied to a product or service. If I was to try and use the phrase "you deserve a break today" to promote my product, that would be an infringement. For me to just say to you, "you deserve a break today," no one can stop me from saying that. Then again, maybe Wendy's should have sued all the politicians who started asking "Where's the Beef." when that became famous. http://www.againstmonopoly.org/index.php?perm=886089000000000931 (disclaimer: IANAL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda Huntress Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 If they feel the guesture belongs to them, they need to file a DMCA on the creator to have it taken down. Anything else is drama and speculation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keli Kyrie Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 It sounds like they are claiming that it is Intellectual Property and there has been lawsuits about that. (Edited) To remove old information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceMistress Soulstar Posted March 23, 2011 Author Share Posted March 23, 2011 But what she is claiming i see almost every host use. I seen dozens of them use this particular phrase..heck sometimes i use it in RL, Doesnt mean i got it from SL. She doesnt have any where in her profile claiming it to be hers or any kind of DMCA order listed for that particular phrase. She jus Claims that it is legally binding phrase to her and that she can sue if it keeps being used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceMistress Soulstar Posted March 23, 2011 Author Share Posted March 23, 2011 I dont know, either way its done and over with i am jus trying to gain knowledge of this. Cause it seems crazy and stupid to try to keep anyone from saying a phrase i see alot of people use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterCanessa Oh Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I checked online for a more-or-less-authorative answer. This sums it up nicely 3. Can I get a Copyright on This Name/Word/Phrase/Title? No. You can’t. Copyright protects works of creative authorship that are fixed into a tangible medium of expression and it specifically precludes short phrases, titles, etc. The law is very clear on this and for very good reason, if you could copyright a title or a name, then very quickly nothing in the English language would be safe from copyright protection. There is no way to copyright words or short phrases and that’s to the benefit of all. Why it Isn’t Stupid [to ask] You can’t copyright a short word or phrase, but you can trademark one. Many people confuse trademark and copyright law because they are similar in many regards and do have a great deal of overlap, especially when dealing with logo design. Trademark is a much more limited protection than a copyright, designed solely to protect a business’ identifying marks and names within its field, but the two do have a lot in common. Given that there are three types of intellectual property, copyright, trademark and patents, it is understandable that people would be confused, especially when there is so much overlap between the three. (http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2009/01/21/5-stupid-copyright-questions-that-arent/) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladi Hazelnut Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 In order for her to sue you she would have to prove you are making some sort of profit from it that she isn't because you are using it. Now if she created a gesture that she sells and you are selling it then LL can check the creation date and if hers is earlier than yours they could remove it from your inventory. As soon as you create something in SL it is essentially copyrighted material. All Linden labs needs to do is check the creator and the date of the item. If you create an original object in SL it is indeed yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterCanessa Oh Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Vladi Hazelnut wrote: In order for her to sue you she would have to prove you are making some sort of profit from it that she isn't because you are using it. Now if she created a gesture that she sells and you are selling it then LL can check the creation date and if hers is earlier than yours they could remove it from your inventory. As soon as you create something in SL it is essentially copyrighted material. All Linden labs needs to do is check the creator and the date of the item. If you create an original object in SL it is indeed yours. 1. You don't need to be profiting to breach copyright. All those people posting copyrighted videos on YouTube are still breaking the law even though they aren't getting anything out of it. 2. "As soon as you create something in SL it is essentially copyrighted material" - but only if that material is amenable to copyright law. Her gesture would be but if you made a gesture that happened to use the same word/phrase then that is yours, the word/phrase itself can't be copyrighted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Hancroft Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 PeterCanessa Oh wrote: I checked online for a more-or-less-authorative answer. This sums it up nicely 3. Can I get a Copyright on This Name/Word/Phrase/Title? No. You can’t. Copyright protects works of creative authorship that are fixed into a tangible medium of expression and it specifically precludes short phrases, titles, etc. The law is very clear on this and for very good reason, if you could copyright a title or a name, then very quickly nothing in the English language would be safe from copyright protection. There is no way to copyright words or short phrases and that’s to the benefit of all. (My emphasis) Why it Isn’t Stupid [to ask] You can’t copyright a short word or phrase, but you can trademark one. Many people confuse trademark and copyright law because they are similar in many regards and do have a great deal of overlap, especially when dealing with logo design. Trademark is a much more limited protection than a copyright, designed solely to protect a business’ identifying marks and names within its field, but the two do have a lot in common. Given that there are three types of intellectual property, copyright, trademark and patents, it is understandable that people would be confused, especially when there is so much overlap between the three. (http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2009/01/21/5-stupid-copyright-questions-that-arent/) I wonder about this. Marine Kelly created long ago the "Restrained Life Viewer." Some time ago she was informed by Linden Labs that the word "Life" is either copyrighted or trademarked and she may not use that word anywhere within SecondLife, so, she had to change the name of her viewer. Because it had become so well known as the "RLV," Marine changed the full name to the "Restrained Love Viewer." Personally, I thought it was ridiculous that a word could be excluded from any and all creations in SL because they have the copyright or trademark to a single word. I guess this is the case, but I sure don't understand HOW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrius Gothly Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Marcus Hancroft wrote: .... Personally, I thought it was ridiculous that a word could be excluded from any and all creations in SL because they have the copyright or trademark to a single word. I guess this is the case, but I sure don't understand HOW. Superior attorneys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vania Chaplin Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Hehehe, I am not a lawyer. In fact I am very far from being one In RL we had case tat can be of interest. Introduction: "Açai" is the name of an indigenous fruit from Brazil. In 2003, a Japanese company trademarked the name "Açai". In 2007, the trademark was cancelled by the Japan Patent Office. Full history here: Brazil regains 'açaí' trademark from Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda Huntress Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Darrius Gothly wrote: Marcus Hancroft wrote: .... Personally, I thought it was ridiculous that a word could be excluded from any and all creations in SL because they have the copyright or trademark to a single word. I guess this is the case, but I sure don't understand HOW. Superior attorneys. The closer you are to having a similar product the tighter the Trademark restrictions. Being a competing client the products are very similar. If she made, say, Restrained Life Tacos or some such or if the Restrained Life Viewer was a real life set of blinders for pony-play then the question of trademark infringement would never even be looked at. And if I remember correctly, she changed the name voluntarily after SL started protecting "SL", Second Life Widgits, Second <whatever> and other forms of it trademark. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenn MacMoragh Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 You can also recieve a cease and desist letter for Trademark infringment if you use something that will make people feel that are buying something made by someone else. For example try and tie the word "Margaritaville" to any product and watch how fast Jimmy Buffett's lawyers come after you. However, in response to the OP's question, first off if they claim that the use of a gesture/phrase is legally binding as theirs then they are completely clueless, and trying to to feed you a line. If the gesture was copyrighted as intellectual property or the phase was Trademarked then they would have used those terms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unoionu Hilltop Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Call their Bluff: the ball is in their hands to file a DMCA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Collingwood Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 IceMistress Soulstar wrote: I need a question answered, not sure if this is the place to ask. If you use a saying in secondlife or a gesture that someone comes up to you and says hey you cant use this gesture or saying cause i have legal rights over it and can sue you in RL for it and have your account taken in SL. Is this possible, or even at all factual?? Which gesture is it? I don't think it is against ToS to tell us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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