How would you go about copy right your ideas in sl?

[Cinnamon Lohner]

You don't copyright ideas.  You patent ideas.  You copyright written material (digital or paper) as well as music and art.  You trademark corporate logos and symbols.

So you need to decide what exactly it is you are trying to protect and then use the appropriate vehicle for it.

--Cinn

[Cinnamon Lohner]

You don't copyright ideas.  You patent ideas.  You copyright written material (digital or paper) as well as music and art.  You trademark corporate logos and symbols.

So you need to decide what exactly it is you are trying to protect and then use the appropriate vehicle for it.

--Cinn

[Rolig Loon]

You should review the Linden Lab TOS very carefully, particularly section 7, which deals with your property rights.  It says, in part ...

"7.1 You retain any and all Intellectual Property Rights in Content you submit to the Service.

You retain any and all Intellectual Property Rights you already hold under applicable law in Content you upload, publish, and submit to or through the Servers, Websites, and other areas of the Service, subject to the rights, licenses, and other terms of this Agreement, including any underlying rights of other users or Linden Lab in Content that you may use or modify.

In connection with Content you upload, publish, or submit to any part of the Service, you affirm, represent, and warrant that you own or have all necessary Intellectual Property Rights, licenses, consents, and permissions to use and authorize Linden Lab and users of Second Life to use the Content in the manner contemplated by the Service and these Terms of Service.

Because the law may or may not recognize certain Intellectual Property Rights in any particular Content, you should consult a lawyer if you want legal advice regarding your legal rights in a specific situation. You acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for knowing, protecting, and enforcing any Intellectual Property Rights you hold, and that Linden Lab cannot do so on your behalf."

Under U.S. law, you own the copyright on your own creations, even if you do not choose to register the copyright for them.  If you feel that you need the extra legal protection of registration to show prior ownership, you should consult your own lawyer, as that final paragraph advises.  

As an aside, and purely from a personal perspective as a creator in SL, I have never considered it worth the expense to try protecting my property rights.  Creators who are significantly more prolific than I am and have more investment to consider, however, are much more vigilant and are in a better position to comment.  You should probably post in the Commerce forums to gather opinions.

[AmyNevilly]

I run a number of businesses in SL which have what you might call Intellectual Property. I don't protect any of them.

The reason why I don't protect my ideas is because Intellectual Property does not extend across borders unless I have a million USD to pursue someone internationally.

My recommendation if you are working with scripts is to divide it up into modules and get separate scripters to work on different functions. Then you can bring all the elements together without them having the full puzzle available to them. 

The alternative is to strike up a strong partnership with a scripter (like I do) who appreciates your own talents and work in a sort of symbiotic relationship. You'll find scripters have their shortcomings!

[Chic Aeon]

The best, I think, that wouldn't cost you a small fortune (patent attorneys are expensive and filing feed, copyrighting a product name or logo etc.) that could easily cost considerably more than you would make back selling your product or service -- would be to get a contract with the script person as well as a non-disclosure agreement.

 

The problem in SL is that for the most part NO ONE KNOWS WHO ANYONE REALLY IS  ... So that makes this pretty much an impossible situation. If you could meet the script person in real life and do things that way, it would be much more likely to enforce any agreement.

 

There have been court cases based on product rights in virtual platforms, but it isn't really a mainstream thing. Easier I would think to go for a breach of contract suit if it ever came to that.  Even when you can sit down with the people involved, things can go wrong. SL's anonymity makes that much more likely.

 

Good luck.

[Wili Clip]

Just sign a NDA - non disclosure agreement with person that you'll be cooperating. You can even do that over internet with a company that provides that like for example echo-sign.

Also prepare a lot of money for the scripter. I am a scripter and I know that scripting work costs a lot....