Wyvern

-------------- --> Below is my petition/open letter to Linden Lab in regard to the TOS. You have my full permission to revise, repost and re-use this however you wish. For extra impact, please mail or fax it to Linden Lab's legal department: By Mail: Linden Lab Legal Department 945 Battery Street San Francisco, CA 94111 By Fax: Attn: Legal Department 415.243.9045 Thank you! -------------- Dear Linden Lab, We, the creators and citizens of Second Life, do respectfully request an immediate and permanent amendment to the Second Life Terms of Service, section 2.3. It states currently: "Except as otherwise described in any Additional Terms (such as a contest’s official rules) which will govern the submission of your User Content, you hereby grant to Linden Lab, and you agree to grant to Linden Lab, the non-exclusive, unrestricted, unconditional, unlimited, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, and cost-free right and license to use, copy, record, distribute, reproduce, disclose, sell, re-sell, sublicense (through multiple levels), modify, display, publicly perform, transmit, publish, broadcast, translate, make derivative works of, and otherwise exploit in any manner whatsoever, all or any portion of your User Content (and derivative works thereof), for any purpose whatsoever in all formats, on or through any media, software, formula, or medium now known or hereafter developed, and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed, and to advertise, market, and promote the same. You agree that the license includes the right to copy, analyze and use any of your Content as Linden Lab may deem necessary or desirable for purposes of debugging, testing, or providing support or development services in connection with the Service and future improvements to the Service. The license granted in this Section 2.3 is referred to as the 'Service Content License.' " The section of TOS quoted above begs the question: does Linden Lab actually have the right to re-use our creations freely? Specifically, can Linden Lab give or sell our original creations to others, whenever they wish and without informing us? In effect, are our artistic creations actually ours, or do they belong to Linden Lab? As virtual citizens, we do understand it is necessary to store and re-transmit our creations, in order to send data to other viewers. It is also necessary to examine and share data within Linden Lab, for technical support purposes. Such usage is fair and acceptable. That, however, is where the TOS needs to stop. It is not necessary--and is, in fact, grossly overreaching--to demand worldwide distribution rights, anywhere, in perpetuity. As creators, we deeply value our artistic endeavors, both on and off the virtual grid. We pour countless hours into the textures, scripts, mesh and prims that we shape. As such, it is absolutely essential for us to protect our intellectual property. The concerns are not just financial, but personal. Furthermore, if our creations are indeed a fundamental part of Second Life--which Linden Lab has promoted as a "user created world"--why then should those creations not be protected? To conclude, we hold that what we create in Second Life must remain ours. It is an essential part of the creative process, and a keystone of international copyright. If Linden Lab reuses our work, it must be with expressed permission--not a blanket clause--and fair compensation for each use. Otherwise, what drive is there to create in Second Life? We become nothing more than unpaid employees, freely creating material for Linden Lab to, quote, "exploit." It is not right, and it is not fair. As such, we hereby request that the TOS be amended immediately and permanently to reflect that we retain full Intellectual Property rights, that we in fact must be consulted, and fairly compensated, before our work can be re-used, sold, or distributed in any way other than normal, server-to-viewer activity. Thank you.