Second Life Recognizes IP Of User-Created Objects

Thanks to TerraNova for pointing to a Yahoo press release revealing that "online world" Second Life now recognizes the ownership of in-world content made by subscribers. According to the press release, "The revised TOS allows subscribers to retain full intellectual property protection for the digital content they create, including characters, clothing, scripts, textures, objects and designs." As well as this, "Second Life has committed to exploring technologies to make it easy for creators to license their content under Creative Commons licenses", but, while these CC licenses are still being discussed, questions about the just-implemented IP issues are addressed at an official FAQ page on the Second Life site.

Comments

More on the press release on conference

[The Importance of]

State of Play Blog and New IP Rules for Second Life

Does it really matter?

[Prince_Ali]

The only thing that could really exists outside of Second Life is textures, and from what I've seen Second Life needs as many textures as it can get its hands on (it has horrible graphics).

Re:Does it really matter?

[LilMikey]

There are many other things that can exist outside of secondlife that are worth of IP protections. Many objects are scripted. These scripts should be protected no differently than any other code. There are things such as poetry and short story contests the contents of which should be protected. Art in the form of textures as you stated should be protected. The models themselves (although it seems possible to construe them as derivative works) need protection.

Acknowledging this encourages people to bring in more and better content making secondlife better for all of its participants.

As for the poor graphics, I'd suggest you look again. With the latest particle enhancements, bump mapping, improved lighting effects, etc. the graphics are quite good. That doesn't prevent people from creating things poorly however.

This is the first MMORPG I've been tempted to play

[Sheetrock]

While it's not a hack-and-slash level-upper like most of 'em, it's got a level of depth to it that can only come from letting users design their own content. Not dungeons, but jetpacks, paintball, rollercoasters, and the like with an advanced scripting engine. The game uses real physics, so it's able to calculate in real time the effect of something you code on a 3D model.

Really neat stuff. It lets average people get a feel for what programming is like in a MMO environment. So the fact that they recognize your stake in what you create is meaningful, given that you aren't just repositioning in-game objects but actually designing your own stuff to entertain others in the game. I may actually have to give it a try now, although the folks that get a little too into these things have made me leery of doing so to this point.

clothing business in cyberspace?

[Major_Small]

will you be able to then charge for everything you make? or is it going to be a license where everything you make must be free for everybody?

i can't wait until people start trading real money if they can... i can see some name brand clothing retailers buying accounts and creating officially licensed clothing for the game...

Sounds like a nightmare for derivative works

[Nuclear Elephant]

What? This is a derivative work? But yours has clothes on!

I hate to spoil the party...

[Anonymous Coward]

...but NAT routers are really going to mess up this scheme. What if more than one person has the same IP?

Isn't this obvious?

[Rude Turnip]

That's like saying that when I create a document within the virtual world of MS Word, that I get to keep the copyright on the document...and then act surprised by it.

Nobody can create an idea.

[Thinkit3]

You discover it. You can create lemonade from lemon juice, sugar, and water. Nobody else could have created that glass of lemonade. But with information, two people can independently "create" it. So it's not creating, it's discovering.

What about damages?

[UncleBiggims]

I have never played Second Life... but what happesn if this sets a precedent for other online games. Can you sue someone for killing your character or stealing your stuff? If so, will the defense simply be "It wasn't me... my computer was being hacked."

Creative Commons intro

[sirReal.83.]

For those of you who aren't familiar with Creative Commons, there's a cute little intro movie in Flash. Think you can do better, or just hate Flash? Good thing they're holding the Moving Images contest.

From the Rules page:

(3) Prizes: One (1) First Prize: First Prize Winner may choose either: an Apple(R) Power Mac(R) G5 Computer (Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5) (Approximate retail value ("ARV"): US$3000), or an Alienware(R) 2001DV(TM) System (ARV: US$3000). One (1) Second Prize: Sony(R) Handycam(R) Camcorder (Model DCR-PC120BT) (ARV: US$1200). One (1) Third Prize: Apple(R) iPod(TM) Digital Music Player (ARV: US$400).

Sound nice? Get working.

MMORPGs too much like real life?

[G4from128k]

These online games seemed doomed to recreate the complications that drive people to play games in the first place. I wonder if Second Life will now have a PTO in the game to register and regulate player-created IP. I wonder if the games will become so much like real-life that some people will craft a simplier MMORPG to play inside a more complex one ("Third Life" anyone???).

What is the world coming to when one must escape from even escapist entertainments?

A Little Background

[jazzyfox]

One of the things that, I believe, prompted this change was a user who wanted to write a framework for an MMORPG style game ruleset in SecondLife. They wanted to have the option to use this framework else where, such as porting it from the in-game scripting language to say, perl. The previous TOS, like most, included stipulations that all content created in SecondLife becomes the property of Linden Labs.

Now, the TOS reads closer to the Yahoo!/GeoCities one for websites. In fact, that particular TOS was brought up as an example of what could be done. So the new TOS basically gives Linden Labs the ability to use your work to advertise, to delete it if the game goes under, or to debug it when it breaks things.

I've been playing SecondLife for a couple months now, and it has been amazing. The basic concept is similar to a 3D MUSH, more oriented to social and building activities than combat. But the Lindens have been hands down the most responsive online gaming company that I have dealt with. Unlike EQ, DAoC, etc, the in-game representatives socialize with the players, and have a face. They are real people not just a glowing orb that teleports you out of the lava where you got stuck. The change in the TOS after commentary by players is just the latest example of how well they actually listen.

Well...

[DrEldarion]

At least this will take care of the "You can't sell that on ebay, we OWN it!" restriction that MMORPG companies seem to have.

"Nope, it's MY IP now!"

Re:Well...

[Anonymous Cow herd]

Uhh. The main difference being that, with Generic-MMORPG, their designers had the idea for whatever item you're selling, their modellers created the models, and their artists created the textures, etc. They are essentially the "creators". In SecondLife, you're doing the grunt work, the actual creation, they're just providing the toolset to do that.

A second life...

[nizo]

heck I don't even have a first life, wouldn't I need that first???

Re:Wow...

[MoxCamel]

Yes, since obviously, allowing anyone besides major corporations to have intellectual property is a horrible thing and must be wiped out, lest the serfs begin to think they have power. Best to make sure they sign their lives over to you in the TOS, just to be safe.

I love Slashdot. I never have to use my own voice, I just wait for others to insert words into my mouth for me. I also like it, because you never have to really understand what the poster was trying to say. You just take the worst-possible interpretation, and run with it!

I mean, since I'm not towing the intellectual-property-is-bad-la-la-la-I'm-not-list ening! line, I must be a corporate goon, trolling Slashdot in between suing children and eating toddlers.

Creative Commons

[temojen]

You can read about the variety of options available in the creative commons licenses at the Creative Commons website

Essentially it's a templated license where the owner selects what terms to use.the options are:

1. Require attribution?
   • yes
   • no
2. Allow commercial uses of your work?
   • yes
   • no
3. Allow modifications of your work?
   • yes
   • Yes, as long as others share alike
   • no

So essentially it boils down to:

• Public Domain
• Public Domain with attribution
• GPL
• BSD
• Freeware

My game: "Real Life"

[NineNine]

I play a similar game. It's called "Real Life". I also spend a lot of time creating social relationshipsand building things. Right now, I've got a ton of friends, several hot girlfriends, and I'm building a business. It's really fucking exciting. The best part of it? I don't even need to sit in front of a computer for 12 hours a day! If anybody wants to try "Real Life", just turn your computer "off". It's very interactive, and very, very realistic.

Re:My game: "Real Life"

[freeweed]

I've got a ton of friends, several hot girlfriends

Followed by this sig:

Geek Girls Naked! [ccbill.com]

No further comment needed :)

Re:My game: "Real Life"

[eggstasy]

Yeah, I play that too, except the graphics suck, most of the players are fat or ugly, or both. You can't fly around without some expensive vehicles, and money doesnt come for free every week, plus you cant build anything decent in 5 minutes, or instantly buy and sell land, or teleport, or fly around shooting your friends with realistic weapons without being afraid of dying, etc, etc...
When you get sick of your house and want to make it bigger, you can do it in 5 seconds by stretching it. You can lift your entire house up in the air if you feel like it, or even put a vehicle script in it and drive it around, and of course you can also just put it into your pocket and take it with you while you teleport to the other side of the world.
Oh, and in real life, when you're $1500 in the hole, you will probably not be able to get out of debt by teaching 3 classes or holding 3 parties or any sort of event.

SimPatent announcement

[dmeranda]

November 14, Redmond, Washington - ipRus Inc. has just released the next generation computer game, SimPatent(R)(TM)(SM). It is a massively distributed multiplayer sinulation environment which allows gamers worldwide to participate in the fun world of intellectual property. Previously reserved only for high class CEOs and high payed lawyers (and an occasional 12-year old), this new simulation allows anybody to wield the power of intelectual control to crush their opponents. Cheating is not only allowed, but encouraged as a way to help out those players who are not very good. If an opponent is stronger than you, you may within the game reduce him to nothing by using our patented simulated legal system. Plans are already underway for enhancements, including a legislative system that can be manipulated by players to alter the game rules in their favor. ipRus's game servers are to go online in early December 2003, however the company is already accepting player applications, requiring only the exchange of personal information and email addresses.

Weird requirments

[FrostedWheat]

To join Second Life, you must:

• Be a resident of the U.S. or Canada

Well that was fun while it lasted :)

As a Second Life player, I applaud this.

[katsushiro]

Allright, really quick now, let me dispell some myths and doubts, since I've noticed that almost no posters even know what Second Life is, since they keep referring to it as an MMORPG and talking about swords and monsters and PK'ing and being able to 'patent your inventory'.

Second Life is *not* an RPG, there are no monsters or quests or anything. It does *not* have PK-ing, tjhe ability to steal other people's objects, or damage other's property (although you could code all these behaviours and more into objects you create, with the tools the game gives you). At its base, it's a glorified chat room, where you create an avatar and then fly around the world, meeting people, chatting with them, etc. However, certain things set it apart, the biggest one being that you have the freedom and ability to create 3D objects in the game, import textures and sounds, and use a specialized scripting language to assign actions, movements, behaviours, etc. to those objects and to your avatar. The depth of this creation system is absolutely stunning, and limited really only by your skill (and that's *your* skill as the person behind the keyboard doing the modeling and coding, not your character's artificial skill stats) and imagination. While a lot of people limit themselves ot just making things like t-shirts, paintings, and simple houses, I've seen very large, complex creations around the Second Life world, including entire floating cities, RPG systems coded in game with the scripting language, dragons, roller coaster and amusement park rides, sports arenas, game shows, and a lot more, all fully created by the players.

All these creations require time, effort and skill from the person making them. If you create a sword in Second Life, you actually model the thing, create the polygons, upload and tweak the textures, and script its actions.. you don't find the sword after killing a rabbit or roll you 'swordmaking' skill for the 'crafting' aspect of the game. You spend real time and effort to make it. You can imagine how much time some people have invested in their more ambitious creations.

That's, I think, what makes the difference here. The reason why IP should matter in a game like Second Life, as opposed to, say, Everquest or any of the other MMORPG's, even those with 'crafting' components, is that effort involved in the actual creation of the item. I don't mind a game company telling me that I can't sell a sword I won after battling a dragon in Everquest for real money because they own the IP on that sword. It's their right, they made the sword, they coded it and made the art etc. etc. etc. For all the effort I put into killing that dragon, I earn the right to use that sword of theirs in the game and reap its benefits, in game. However, when you're talking about a sword I crafted myself from bare polygons and scripts, that I spent hours on the Gimp or Photoshop tweaking the textures for, and you tell me that that item isn't mine and I can't sell it for real money if I want to, that's another matter entirely.

I personally applaud Second Life and their staff for recognizing this, that the effort and dedication that the players pour into the game with their creations makes the game itself better, and they deserve the fruits of their labour, and to keep the rights to their own creations. Second Life is far from perfect, it's got its bugs, its griefers, and its issues.. but with moves like this from their staff, it's also taking several very large steps towards setting itself apart from all the other MMO games and creating soemthing truly unique. Kudos to the founders for this decision.

Re:As a Second Life player, I applaud this.

[cmacb]

"By doing this they have also made it quite difficult or impossible for a vast amount of people to also create things."

I don't think so. There will still be a lot of copyright free stuff to be had. In fact I doubt most people will bother to enforce any sort of copyright on their creations.

This move was important for programs such as Second Life however because the creation exists entirely on the server. Without this change in the TOS the obvious interpretations would be that Linden Labs owns everything that is created in the Second Life environment. This makes it clear that content you create can, if you choose, remain under your control in the IP sense, even though not in your physical possesion.

A brief on SL economy/rules

[Francis]

In the SL world, everything works on Linden$ (L$). Everything you build costs money. For instance, if I want to build a cube (or other type of primitive) it costs me $10. If I destroy that cube, I get my $10 back. If I decide to keep the cube in the game at all times, even when I'm not logged in, I get taxed on it. This is to encourage people not to leave stuff just lying around, cluttering up the landscape, and more importantly, the game server with processing your junk.

Every week you get a stipend, of roughly L$1000, which will never increase your account balance beyond $3500. To gain more money than that, you have to earn it. One way of earning L$ is to sell things, such as clothes, models, or scripts.

Unless you figure out an exploit, you cannot steal anyone's things. Every note, script and object you create has a list of permissions, such as copyable, modifiable, moveable, buyable.

In most of the SL world, you cannot hurt anyone. In the areas where you can be hurt, if you die, all that happens is you get teleported home. That's it.

You don't have to worry about someone beating you up and robbing you :)

My favorite thing about SL is the scripting language. Like Hiro in snow crash. You can literally click an object in the game, and bring up the scripting code in a window, and start futzing with it. This is a really good toy version of the metaverse :)

Re:A brief on SL economy/rules

[katsushiro]

The taxes are, actually, fairly high, and you get taxed on both the land you own and the objects you have rezzed (created) out in the world. However, they're not cripplignly high. Basically, they're just high enough to discourage you from littering th elandscape with hundreds of lovingly modeled goatse guys, but not so high that you shy away from creating a really kickass home for yourself with all sorts of doodads and gizmos. The game also has a series of ways for making money that encourages the creation of unique, interesting items. Besides just being able to sell copies of the items you make (and place permissions on those items to allow or disallow further copying, modification, etc.) the game also has what's called 'dwell', which basically pays you money if people spend X amount of time or more on your property. So while you may get taxed more for a house that's very complex (the taxes are based on how many 'prims', or individual, Lego-like objects, your creations are made out of), if it attracts people to it and they stick around examining it, you can make that money back and then some thanks to 'dwell'.

As a further note, L$3500 is a decent sum, but not vast riches either. As an example, buying an article of clothing from someone else can vary from anywhere around L$20 to L$500, depending on how prim-heavy the clothing is and how much the seller thinks they can get away with. Things like flying cars can cost L$1000 or more. But L$3500 and the stipend are enough to keep you comfortable and buying interesting things without having to build or sell a single thing if you don't want to.. while at the same time, if you want to create something really ambitious, then you have to have some sort of 'business' to make up for the taxes you'll be charged.

Re:I can do anything?

[LilMikey]

I don't know if you are being sarcastic however...

People can have homes (oft built by the player), they can lock the doors (using player built locking scripts), and if you're especially motivated you can probably find a way around the scripts.

However, objects in the world have permissions so that if the owner says noone can take an object, you cannot take it regardless of them leaving their door open.

As for defiling other avatars, that (along with most anything illegal in the real world) violates their terms of service. There have been instances of harassment leading to expulsion.

Killing on the other hand is possible in any damage-enabled area. It's not as satisfying as you'd think though. The avatar is simply teleported home. Also, obnoxiously annoying people in any way could probably be considered harassment and the authorities are pretty good at maintaining order. Not to mention the internal system... if you're a dick, you're rated down (and possibly banned from people's land). If you're rated down you don't get as much money. If you don't get as much money, you don't get to do as much stuff. The game becomes less fun for a-holes and idiots.

2nd Life Sourceforge?

[Doc Ruby]

Will there be a database of 2nd Life code? Like a sourceforge? How about a 2nd Life UI for interacting with it? Like a smithy/library, where avatars meet to demo and haggle? Auctioneer avatars taking their cut of licensing transactions?

How about a 2nd Life virtual machine for running 2nd Life code on my Gnome desktop? How long before we move that desktop *inside* 2nd Life, for development teams?

Re:License it under the GPL

[AndroidCat]

If you use the GPL, does that mean the game has Open Sourcery?

Must we have IP laws for everything?

[syberanarchy]

I remember the days when the only people who had to give a damn about copyright laws were those who held 'em and the big piracy rings who infringed upon them and sold the bootlegs in Times Square. The big arms race of the new millenium seems to be for everyone to horde everything they can under the umbrella of copyright/trademark/patent. I'm surprised you can masturbate any more without signing away the rights to your bodily fluids. It is sad that because of a world controlled by a handful of wealthy political interests, we have to sign/click a waiver/EULA for almost anything we do. I do not envy the world my children will inherit.

Legality of subject matter

[Che Guevarra]

What a lot of "programers" don't realize is that there is a very rich and textured world of legality that exists in the corporate world. What is actually taking place is the legal precedent of rights. There is nothing like this in precedent, so there is an ongoing establishment of "rights" taking place. Its important in the legal/courts environment, but not necessarily in the court of public opinion. However, these issues need to be addressed to determine business practices.

Re:so you mean...

[aborchers]

Have these people lost their fucking minds? It's a game for jebuz sake.

I haven't read the article, and know zip about this particular game, so I can't speak to this implementation, but only the concept.

Perhaps you are looking at it too narrowly. I for one thought this to be quite a progressive step and one that is consistent and equitable with respect to honoring the rights of all to create and participate in the process, rather than just signing everything away to the corporate monolith as has traditionally been the norm.

As we conduct more and more of our activities in on-line worlds, and our creative works manifest more in the same, then is it not reasonable and natural that those manifestations to serve the same purposes as the goods and services we produce in the wetworld? Think about it: wouldn't it be cool for your "day job" to be blacksmith in an on-line RPG? For now, it may only produce on-line currency that subsidizes your game time, but in the not too distant future, you, and the other users, might become co-creators with the game publisher and actually make a living from it.

It just seems a natural progression of the economy to extend into virtual worlds this way. I'd much rather see this than a bunch of hamburger-flipping losers by day paying corporate giants to play their RPGs in the evening.

Perhaps not as eloquent as Gibson or Stephenson would express it, but do you get what I'm pushing out here?

Re:IP as in Copyright not Networking

[PetoskeyGuy]

I understand that different things can have the same acronym, but I have to agree with Richard Stallman on this. There is no such thing as Intellectual Property. It refers to Copyright, Patents, or Trademarks without being specific as to which.

See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html# IntellectualProperty">
this link
for more information.

So while I appreciate the link to acronyms, I am rather relieved that it hasn't made it yet.

Like those people who "google" for things. There are many more ways to search the internet then google.com, and much more to the internet then what can be seen via port 80. Google is a trademark, not a verb. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for that word to disappear when Google goes the way of Altavista.

Re:WHAT???

[NineNine]

Is "geek" the new "slut"?


Has been for a few years now. All of the loose hipster chicks all define themselves as "geeks" now.

Re:Wow...

[Kent Recal]

Shameless plug, huh?

Well, I actually dug out my WinXP Laptop and gave it a shot. And know what: Yes, it's dead-boring.
Certainly some interesting playground for the developers but not for the players...

It looks like a bad experimental 3d-engine with some very-limited scripting language tacked on top. Not even close to a "game". No concept, no gameplay, NOTHING.
You basically just mess around with it to run into its constraints every 5 minutes.
Then when you've realized how limited it is (took me about 40mins) you'll just drop it like a hot potatoe and release a big yawn cuz there's nothing left to do.

Oh yea and there's not even a linux version.
(as if that poor 3d engine required any exciting directX stunts...)

Moving towards some cyberpunk concepts

[SubconsciousSeraphim]

Both Snow Crash (someone mentioned Hiro and the manipulation of objects in his environment) and Tad Williams' Otherworld feature this sort of behavior in their environment. Player-crafted and -owned objects are common, and in fact are really what bring a player prestige.

I like the idea of an online environment where one's creative abilities and hard work are appreciated and rewarded, because it encourages similar behavior in others. Instead of spending hours just clicking on ingredients to craft something, actual time and mental resources are spent. Feels good.

They're hardly the first

[Doctor Cat]

As usual, the companies with the big PR budget get the attention (and the press coverage, be it on /. or elsewhere.) Here's an excerpt from our Furcadia user agreement, which we've had for quite a while...

Copyrights for any original works made by Content Providers belong to them, or jointly to them and Dragon's Eye if their work is based on Furcadia artwork or other content to the extent that it constitutes a 'derivative work' under current laws. By uploading their original work and/or derivative work to Furcadia, Content Providers automatically grant their permission for other players to use the Furcadia software to view and experience those works, a process in which the software may download copies of the works to the viewer's computer for viewing. In addition, the act of uploading grants Dragon's Eye license to redistribute the work in other formats or on other media that the software may support in the future, and to redistribute it in any way that it deems beneficial towards the goal of promoting Furcadia to the general public. Content Providers recognize and acknowledge that making their content available for other players to view and use incurs a certain amount of risk that some of those players may use, modify, or distribute that content in unauthorized ways which may infringe on the copyrights of the Content Provider. Each Content Provider agrees that they assume the entire risk of such infringement when they choose to upload, that they indemnify Dragon's Eye from any liability resulting from such infringement by third parties, that Dragon's Eye assumes no responsibility for taking punitive or corrective actions against such copyright violators, and that the Content Provider will pursue any and all remedies for such infringements on their own, whether these consist of requesting the infringer to cease and desist, filing a civil lawsuit against the infringer, or any other measures. In the event that a Content Provider chooses to file suit on a copyright infringement matter, Dragon's Eye agrees to provide any requested information regarding the transfer or use of the content involved that it may have in its records in a timely fashion.

I suspect that games like Regenesis and Alpha World were treating user created artwork and such as belonging to the user before we were, though I never actually read their license agreements.