TOS & Copyright Building Question

[Dharma Titanium]

Does anyone know if it's considered a violatoin to build a sim loosely based on a book? No characters were reporoduced, some buildings represent but not a dupliate. Some features of the layout would be I guess inspired by the book. 

Anyone know? 

[Audra Siemens]

I think when using the terms "inspired by" basically blankets you so that you're not actually infringing on copyright.. 

[Dharma Titanium]

I thought "inspired by" would cover it as well. However, when doing the mesh copyright tutorial yesterday (so I could upload them), it states that "inspired by" is a violation. 

From the quiz:

Be careful not to make comparisons to brand names or say that your item is "like," "inspired by," or "based on" a brand name that does not belong to you. This can be misleading to other Second Life users and can result in infringement of others' intellectual property rights.

**Only uploaded images may be used in postings**s://secondlife.aditi.lindenlab.com/_img/question_bubble.png" border="0" />Using some 3D modeling software, Cathy created a model of a car. It took her weeks to make the model and now she wants to sell copies of the car in Second Life. Cathy uploaded the car as a mesh to Second Life then listed it for sale on the Second Life Marketplace. The text of Cathy's listing says "looks like a Mercedes." Is this OK?
Yes No
That's right!

[Rolig Loon]

I suppose one way to ask the question would be to look at why you might say "It looks like a Mercedes" or "It was inspired by Lord of the Rings."  The only reason I can imagine is that you hope to benefit from their success and recognition.  You are saying, in a way, that your work is great because it uses someone else's idea.  We are all inspired by other people's work, but we step over a fuzzy line when we have to admit that our creative success depends on people seeing another artist's genius in it.

[Void Singer]

adhesion (the act of relating something to a brand name) is tricky business, particularly in IP law....

for instance, you cannot relate anything you made directly to the Brand in question, but you could bill the region itself as being created as an environment for " fan created roleplay area for fans of ....." which targets the community of fans, rather than the Brand itself

[Chosen Few]

The reason you can't say "looks like a Mercedes" is because Mercedes is a trademark.  The car shape itself, however, is a utilitarian article, and so is ineligible for copyright protection.  So, you can make a car that looks like a Mercedes; you just can't come out and SAY it looks like Mercedes or put the Mercedes logo on it.

Can the same be said for the town you want to build?  Maybe.  It depends on the circumstances.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

IMHO, its not the build itself as you described it that would violate TOS or IP rights, so long as its not exactly like or substantially similiar to the inspiration for it.  its advertising or stating publicy it was "inspired by <trademarked or copyrighted material>.  It would be perfectly acceptable to generically say it was "inspired by a popular childrens book, movie etc". as long as you don't name it and let the viewers draw their own conclusions.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Actually there are two things that are involved in this question.  What LL's policies are and the actual law.  In the Official Policy of LL concerning IP Rights it specifically states that "inspired by" with the name of a copyrighted work or a trademark is not allowed in SL.  Since the official policy is what LL employee's use in determine what is acceptable when processing complaints about IP rights, either in a DMCA action or in deciding if a listing in search or  the marketplace should be allowed, it is important that people know what they are to avoid official action. 

When registering for SL everyone must agree to the TOS, which states that the US law, known as the DMCA must be observed.  So even if you are not a resident of the US it still applies.  Whether LL's policy is what a court would decide is another matter all together.  So you may or may not be right in your answer as far as how a court having RL jurisdiction would apply law in a ruling,  However for SL purposes, I would strongly suggest that 'inspired by" not  be used.

Here are a few links that people who are interested may want to take a look at:

The Official policy of Linden Lab

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Intellectual_Property

About DMCA Violation Notices

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

The official summary of the US Gov't of the DMCA

http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Actually there are two things that are involved in this question.  What LL's policies are and the actual law.  In the Official Policy of LL concerning IP Rights it specifically states that "inspired by" with the name of a copyrighted work or a trademark is not allowed in SL.  Since the official policy is what LL employee's use in determine what is acceptable when processing complaints about IP rights, either in a DMCA action or in deciding if a listing in search or  the marketplace should be allowed, it is important that people know what they are to avoid official action. 

When registering for SL everyone must agree to the TOS, which states that the US law, known as the DMCA must be observed.  So even if you are not a resident of the US it still applies.  Whether LL's policy is what a court would decide is another matter all together.  So you may or may not be right in your answer as far as how a court having RL jurisdiction would apply law in a ruling,  However for SL purposes, I would strongly suggest that 'inspired by" not  be used.

Here are a few links that people who are interested may want to take a look at:

The Official policy of Linden Lab

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Intellectual_Property

About DMCA Violation Notices

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

The official summary of the US Gov't of the DMCA

http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf