characters

[Zopper]

hey i see alot of characters you can buy on the marketplace, like sonic,pacman,bart,spiderman the simpsons etc. are you allowed to sell these characters yourself? for example lets say i would like to sell an outfit and name it homer? with the keywords in the marketplace listings (saying homer) from the simpsons is this possible heres an example of another item someone has sold https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Homer-Simpson-Head-in-a-Jar/10020721 kind of new and wondering if you can do this without getting copyrighted? cause most big characters are trademarked and copyrighted etc. im kind of new so this is why im asking

Edited March 31, 2021 by Zopper

[Fritigern Gothly]

Officially? No, LL has rules against this.

However, as long as no copyright holders file a DCMA complaint against these "creators" there is not a whole lot that can be done, other than telling LL about it and hope they don't have more pressing matters to take care of. 

[Tazzie Tuque]

anyone who creates items using RL trade mark names or characters or logos,  are subject to DCMA, and can be in big trouble.  I know of a motorcycle maker who made amazing bikes, but used brand names from RL on them.. his items were removed from MP and his store in SL, and his account was removed from SL as well.  I do not know if any legal action was taken against him, it could happen.  So anyone who tries this takes a huge risk.

Edited March 31, 2021 by Tazzie Tuque
forgot something

[Orwar]

6 minutes ago, Tazzie Tuque said:

I do not know if any legal action was taken against him, it could happen.  So anyone who tries this takes a huge risk.

   One of two things can lead to your virtual items being removed and you being banned:

• The owner of the copyright, or their representative, filed a DMCA with LL who are the owners of the platform, prompting LL to remove them.
• LL figured that the copyright infringement was liable to a DMCA, and decided to pre-emptively remove them.

   A DMCA is a warning to cease and desist, it's only if you fail to comply or file a DMCA counter notice that it becomes a legal dispute.