Abuse Report Remains Ignored

[Maxwell Grantly]

My name is Maxwell Grantly and I operate a very small
marketplace store that specialises in the production and sale of unique church
furniture (called Holy Moley.)

 

About a week ago, an anonymous resident approached me and
passed me details of objects of mine that had been copy-botted. This resident also
supplied a landmark to show me the offending items.

 

Upon visiting the supplied landmark, I found a church that
was indeed cluttered with a large number of my items. I am 100% certain that
the items are mine as each one has been created with unique textures (that I
alone hold) and I had also added my Inworld name to the descriptor line of many
of the objects - my name remained visible upon right-clicking the objects.
However, I was no longer listed as the creator of these objects. Instead, the
owner of the church was listed as both the owner and creator of my items of
church furniture. Upon checking my marketplace transactions, I discovered that
the owner of the church has indeed purchased these items from me several months
ago but I was confused as to why I should no longer be listed as the creator of
the items, even though I am 100% certain that these items of furniture are indeed
my own personal creations.

 

I opened an “abuse report” and ensure that I completed it
fully, with comprehensive notes, photographs and links to my original marketplace
location; the location where I sell these items. I understand fully that it is
Linden Labs policy NOT to reply to Abuse Reports and so I returned to the given
church landmark after, one, two, three and four days to discover what action had
been taken regarding my complaint. I can confirm now that the offending items
remain inworld and that there is no evidence of any apparent action taken by
Linden Labs. It appears that there is no action on my Abuse Report.

 

I must confess, the lack of policing by Linden
Labs has left me felt considerably let-down and frustrated. How can there be
any incentive for merchants to create unique objects when Linden Labs allow
free abuse of unrestricted copying?

 

My question; other than opening further Abuse Reports (which
I fear may well be ignored again) what other options are there to proceed
further with my complaint of copyright infringement of my unique intellectual
property? (It would be foolhardy of me to start my own private legal action as
I am a UK resident and the value of the offending items is only a few Linden
dollars – however, on principle, I do want to thoroughly follow this issue
through to closure.)

I’ve had to add my reply as an edit as I can’t seem to find
the function to add a reply

My reply:

First of all, I would like to thank you all for your input.
I really do appreciate your different viewpoints on this matter. Just to
clarify one point, my objects have not been linked into a main build - my
objects remain unlinked but still, each root prim of my creations does not
acknowledge me as the creator. Yes, I have only filed an “Abuse Report” until now
I have never heard of a DCMA, I shall have to research the use of DCMA further.

Earlier today, I took a fellow merchant and builder friend
around the offending sim and asked for his opinion as to what I should do. He
has echoed some of the replies made below that I am too impatient in expecting
a reply within a week. He explained that the “wheels of Linden Labs” turn more
slowly and that I should wait a full month before I expect some form of closure
on this – this is what I shall now do. I think I was premature in expecting
Linden Labs to resolve this matter within a week. I guess I shall have to just
bide my time and wait a little longer before my concerns are settled.

Thank you once again for your input.

This is my third (and final) update, added to my original thread because I am unable to reply to my own posts.

It has been well over a month since I raised the Abuse Report with Linden Labs and I can confirm that I have visited the site of my copy-botted material again and again during this time but no action has been taken. Incidentally, during the past month, I have been contacted by another merchant who also complained that her merchandise has been copied without her consent and she has asked me what course of action she should take. I explained that I had already filed an Abuse Report with Linden Labs and that she should do so too – the more Abuse Reports that are received, hopefully the greater chance that Linden Labs will act. Sadly, I can’t see this issue being closed.

[Cinnamon Lohner]

Beyond an Abuse Report, you have the option of filing a notiifcation under DMCA.  Steps you take are outlined in the article below.

http://secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php

--Cinn

[Marigold Devin]

If your name is still credited within an object, then it hasn't been "copybotted"; rather something that was created by you, and copyable has been merged with another structure to make a new object. The person who merged the prims is now shown as the creator, with credits for each component part being visible, as you saw, when you right clicked on the object(s).

And the person who is now being credited as the creator of the objects is ... using the objects for his own venue? Or is he/she selling them on for financial gain? I think the former. They like you stuff, they've tailored it to fit in their church venue. What an honour.

I'm not seeing this as copybotting, and maybe this is how LL are viewing it also.

The only thing you can do if you truly believe an infringement of copyright is take legal action.

(Edited - because I thought about it some more after I posted.)



[Rolig Loon]

Did you file an DCMA complaint, or was it a simple Abuse Report? If you believe that your intellectual property rights were infringed upon, you should have filed a DCMA, which is a legal matter.  See >> http://secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php

[Malate Banufong]

Firstly, it is only a few days since you filed your report and as it seems to need investigation, then give Linden some time to follow it through. However, Marigold has a good point. You say the owner of the church bought the items from you and the only issue you have is that your name isn't appearing on a right click, but, as Marigold says, if the owner of the church has been fitting your individual items as part of a bigger project, then this would be quite normal. I think you may be worrying about something that isn't an issue, especially, as you say the owner did buy the objects.

[Marigold Devin]

---

Maxwell Grantly wrote:

My name is Maxwell Grantly and I operate a very small

marketplace store that specialises in the production and sale of unique church

furniture (called Holy Moley.)

 

About a week ago, an anonymous resident approached me and

passed me details of objects of mine that had been copy-botted. This resident also

supplied a landmark to show me the offending items.

 

Upon visiting the supplied landmark, I found a church that

was indeed cluttered with a large number of my items. I am 100% certain that

the items are mine as each one has been created with unique textures (that I

alone hold) and I had also added my Inworld name to the descriptor line of many

of the objects -

my name remained visible upon right-clicking the objects.

However, I was no longer listed as the creator of these objects. Instead, the

owner of the church was listed as both the owner and creator of my items of

church furniture. Upon checking my marketplace transactions, I discovered that

the owner of the church has indeed purchased these items from me several months

ago but I was confused as to why I should no longer be listed as the creator of

the items, even though I am 100% certain that these items of furniture are indeed

my own personal creations.

 

I opened an “abuse report” and ensure that I completed it

fully, with comprehensive notes, photographs and links to my original marketplace

location; the location where I sell these items. I understand fully that it is

Linden Labs policy NOT to reply to Abuse Reports and so I returned to the given

church landmark after, one, two, three and four days to discover what action had

been taken regarding my complaint. I can confirm now that the offending items

remain inworld and that there is no evidence of any apparent action taken by

Linden Labs. It appears that there is no action on my Abuse Report.

 

I must confess, the lack of policing by Linden

Labs has left me felt considerably let-down and frustrated. How can there be

any incentive for merchants to create unique objects when Linden Labs allow

free abuse of unrestricted copying?

 

My question; other than opening further Abuse Reports (which

I fear may well be ignored again) what other options are there to proceed

further with my complaint of copyright infringement of my unique intellectual

property? (It would be foolhardy of me to start my own private legal action as

I am a UK resident and the value of the offending items is only a few Linden

dollars – however, on principle, I do want to thoroughly follow this issue

through to closure.)

I’ve had to add my reply as an edit as I can’t seem to find

the function to add a reply

My reply:

First of all, I would like to thank you all for your input.

I really do appreciate your different viewpoints on this matter. Just to

clarify one point, my objects have not been linked into a main build - my

objects remain unlinked but still, each root prim of my creations does not

acknowledge me as the creator. Yes, I have only filed an “Abuse Report” until now

I have never heard of a DCMA, I shall have to research the use of DCMA further.

Earlier today, I took a fellow merchant and builder friend

around the offending sim and asked for his opinion as to what I should do. He

has echoed some of the replies made below that I am too impatient in expecting

a reply within a week. He explained that the “wheels of Linden Labs” turn more

slowly and that I should wait a full month before I expect some form of closure

on this – this is what I shall now do. I think I was premature in expecting

Linden Labs to resolve this matter within a week. I guess I shall have to just

bide my time and wait a little longer before my concerns are settled.

Thank you once again for your input.

---

Thank you for updating your original post (it seems the only way to keep an Answers thread updated with this current software).

Thank you also for sending me a message inworld. I haven't been able to log in yet, but it has reached my email inbox. 

I slightly misunderstood (?) the sentence I've highlighted in bold purple in your paragraph above. 

It will take LL a while to investigate a claim of breach of copyright.  I still stand by my original answer, but I hope you will keep this thread updated with any progress you make.  It's a very interesting topic, and controversial, of course.