Age old Machinima dilema

[Bunky Snowbear]

You make machinima.

You find a wonderful sim that would make the perfect location for a scene.

You read the covenent. It doesn't say anything about photography/machinima (surprise!).

You send a message to the owner asking permission. You wait for days/weeks but get no reply.

Do you go ahead and film anyway?

[Charolotte Caxton]

It's pretty cut and dry.

(a) Land Owner Consent for Snapshots and Machinima

If you wish to take a snapshot or capture machinima of content on another Resident’s land, then:

1. For Snapshots, check whether the covenant for the land prohibits snapshots. If it does, then you need special permission from the land owner to take the snapshot. If it allows snapshots or doesn’t address them, then you do not need special permission from the land owner as long as you comply with any terms that may be in the covenant.
2. For Machinima, check whether the covenant for the land allows machinima. If it does not or doesn’t address machinima, then you need special permission from the land owner to capture machinima. If it allows machinima, then you do not need special permission from the land owner as long as you comply with any terms that may be in the covenant.

For Mainland or Linden Homes parcels where Linden Lab is the estate owner, you do not need land owner consent to take snapshots, but you do need special permission from the land owner to capture machinima. The “land owner” is not the estate owner, but the Resident identified as the land owner in the “General” tab under “About Land.” For private islands where Residents are estate owners, you must check the covenant for the private island as provided above.

- http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official: Snapshot_and_machinima_policy

Now, in actuality, filming anything in second life as long as no one finds out shouldn't be an issue. It's when that film gets released that you run into the potential for problems. Ask Kim, or Paris. Actually, poor examples, it turned out rather well for them. The 'leaked' films, not sl machinima.

Also, there are several ways to get in touch with a land owner, try notecards, im or web profile messaging. Sooner or later they gotta pay tier. 

Besides, I have yet to see all of the sims in SL, stay out of trouble and move on to the next unknown awesome place

p.s. Dr. Noob, genius.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

No.  The LL policy, incorporated into the TOS by reference,  clearly states that unless the covenant allows machinima, you need the land owner's permission.  I'd try again with the owner.  Perhaps they didn't get your request , send another request via notecard, IM or even a private message through their profile if you can.  Perhaps they don't speak English and you need to have  your request translated into their language.

If you know they got the request and speak English, but didn't reply, I'd say you have your answer.  While it would be courteous to reply, they are not required to.

I do find it odd though that  the policy on snapshots is that  you are allowed to take pictures unless the covenant disallows it, the opposite of the machnima policy.

[Bunky Snowbear]

Great replies, thanks. I guess I'll have to be more persistant with my requests if I want to fully comply with TOS. I think it's a shame though. I think filming machinima should be allowed anywhere unless specifically stated by the owner, as with photography. Machinima is a great way of showcasing the great scenery of SL to a wider audience, and I think policy is too inhibiting.

[Lindal Kidd]

Thank you for this post.  It moved me to add explicit photo and machinima permissions to my parcels in Masocado.

Anyone is welcome to shoot there, as long as we get a location credit.