Why was my collar removed from Market Place?

[Raven76 Darkheart]

Ok there is such a thing as taking something too far, I created a fan based collar for Star Wars Day 2016, as far as I am aware Disney as yet do not have any ownership claims over this day created by the fans of Star Wars for the fans of Star Wars and yet my collar that I affectionately called the sith collar was removed from MP listings? (9050733). the collar design had absolutely no bearing on the film franchise whatsoever it was simply inspired by the films while remaining my own originial design.

 

Now I tried my best to find an alternative way to fight this fake claim however being in the UK I am unable to send mail to the US and so I am resorting to this forum in the hope that the Lindens will read this and correct their obvious mistake, or at least have the common decency to explain to me why they thought they were justified in removing this item listing that was made for fellow fans of the Star Wars francise.

[Pamela Galli]



[Drake1 Nightfire]

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LesleyAsh wrote:

Ok there is such a thing as taking something too far, I created a fan based collar for Star Wars Day 2016, as far as I am aware Disney as yet do not have any ownership claims over this day created by the fans of Star Wars for the fans of Star Wars and yet my collar that I affectionately called the sith collar was removed from MP listings? (9050733). the collar design had absolutely no bearing on the film franchise whatsoever it was simply inspired by the films while remaining my own originial design.

 

Now I tried my best to find an alternative way to fight this fake claim however being in the UK I am unable to send mail to the US and so I am resorting to this forum in the hope that the Lindens will read this and correct their obvious mistake, or at least have the common decency to explain to me why they thought they were justified in removing this item listing that was made for fellow fans of the Star Wars francise.

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Disney owns the rights to the words Star Wars, Sith and anything else to do with the franchise. You can not use any of it, including images. Nor can you use "inspired by" items.

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/listing_guidelines#listing-guidelines

[Amethyst Jetaime]

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LesleyAsh wrote:

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being in the UK I am unable to send mail to the US and so I am resorting to this forum in the hope that the Lindens will read this ...

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Wow when did mail service between the US and UK stop?

btw.  Lindens very very very very rarely read these forums and even more rarely reply and NEVER act on support issues.  You need to file a support ticket to get any action or information on this.

[Griffin Ceawlin]

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Amethyst Jetaime wrote:

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LesleyAsh wrote:

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being in the UK I am unable to send mail to the US and so I am resorting to this forum in the hope that the Lindens will read this ...

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Wow when did mail service between the US and UK stop?

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LOL. Yeah, where in the UK are you, Lesley? WWII (The Big One) is over and it's very safe to send mail across the pond these days.

[Rya Nitely]

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Amethyst Jetaime wrote:

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btw.  Lindens very very very very rarely read these forums and even more rarely reply and NEVER act on support issues.  You need to file a support ticket to get any action or information on this.

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* Dakota browses the forums as usual and rolls her eyes back *

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

Do you really think either Disney or LL staff are going to go through each and every violation they come across (and yes, using the word Sith is a violation) to decide what is acceptable and what's not?

A company can lose legal ownership of a brand name if its generic use reaches a high enough saturation point that it can be seen as being in general use. This is why they fight so hard to prevent it happening and why they don't like a generic or "inspired by" use of their trademarked words and names. So even if they did go through each and every violation, yours would still have been pulled.

Once you calm down enough to realise things like the ability to send post across the ocean, think of a new name for your collar and put it back on marketplace without any use of trademarked words.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

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Bitsy Buccaneer wrote:

Do you really think either Disney or LL staff are going to go through each and every violation they come across (and yes, using the word Sith is a violation) to decide what is acceptable and what's not?

A company can lose legal ownership of a brand name if its generic use reaches a high enough saturation point that it can be seen as being in general use. This is why they fight so hard to prevent it happening and why they don't like a generic or "inspired by" use of their trademarked words and names. So even if they did go through each and every violation, yours would still have been pulled.

Once you calm down enough to realise things like the ability to send post across the ocean, think of a new name for your collar and put it back on marketplace

without any use of trademarked words.

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or images...

[Perrie Juran]

Welcome to the Wonderful World of  Disney  Copyright.  

I can't turn up the original discussion to document this but my understanding is that LL has been on notice from Disney for a long time that they will not licence anything for use in SL.  The fact that some things may slip through the cracks is a different discussion though.  What matters here is Disney's position.

People have received Cease and Desist orders from Disney, for instance, Mouse World (LINK).

If you want to understand it better I'd suggest Googling "Star Wars Fan Art CopyRight."  You will find useful articles such as Should Star Wars Fans Fear Disney Cease & Desist Letters.

If what you received was a DMCA notification than if you want to challenge it you'll have to do so in writing.  If you don't want to mail it you can always fax it.  https://secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php

 

ETA:Corrected Link