Six of Second Life's top brands Eros Designs, RH Designs, Le Cadre Network, Nomine, PixelDolls and DE Designs are filing suit against Thomas Simon (known as avatar Rase Kenzo), and ten other as yet unidentified avatars. The suit was filed in Brooklyn, New York by attorney Frank Taney, a partner with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney who is representing Eros Designs against Volkov Catteneo, for similar copyright violation.

As long-time SLI readers are doubtless aware, there is no technological means that exists to guarantee prevention against copyright violation. Indeed, most such measures are usually bypassed or broken before they are even released into the wild. That leaves one forum for copyright violation - the same one that has always been there. The RL courts and the legal system.

Benjamin Duranske of Virtually Blind has drilled down on the Movable Life client's Terms of Service. We gave an overview of the Movable Life client here. Duranske observes that the Terms of Service for Movable Life appear to have some problematic terms with respect to intellectual property.

6.2 Intellectual Property Rights. You acknowledge and agree that 3Di and/or its Affiliates retain the sole and exclusive right, title, and interest in and to the Intellectual Property Rights in this Site, the Movable Life Services, Site Code and Site Contents and all copies thereof, in whole and in part. All ideas, techniques, inventions, systems, formulae, discoveries, technical information, programs, prototypes, and similar developments (the "Developments") developed, created, discovered, made, written, or obtained by you in the course of or as a direct or indirect result of accessing or using this Site and/or Movable Life Services, and all related industrial property, copyrights, patent rights, trade secrets, and other forms of protection thereof, shall be and remain the property of 3Di, and/or its Affiliates. You agree to execute or cause to be executed such assignments and applications, registrations, and other documents and to take such other action as may be requested by 3Di and/or its Affiliate to enable them to protect their rights to any such Developments. [Emphasis by Duranske]

It's the sort of boilerplate you find forgotten in many contracts - but it is a nasty surprise to find it there - Concievably it might not be intentional, though if it is that would be quite rude. Go check out what Duranske has to say on the matter.

Always read the fine print.

Linden Lab's Marty Linden announces that they and Marc Bragg have settled out of court. The details of the resolution are confidential, of course, but Bragg's account has been restored, and he is back inworld as Marc Woebegone.

We covered part of the case here, and Benjamin Duranske of Virtually Blind covered the rest.

"The parties agree that there were unfortunate disagreements and miscommunications regarding the conduct and behavior by both sides", wrote Marty Linden.

Bragg and Linden Lab ask that people don't pry into the terms of the settlement. Fair enough. There are other things that we're all interested about.

Benjamin Duranske of the virtual worlds legal blog Virtually Blind has just reported on an interesting and important clause that seems to have escaped most peoples' notice. Certainly I've skimmed through the following clause and the impact of it never really registered:

You also understand and agree that ... you automatically grant ... to Linden Lab and to all other users ... a non-exclusive, worldwide, fully paid-up, transferable, irrevocable, royalty-free and perpetual License, under any and all patent rights you may have or obtain with respect to your Content. [My emphasis]

You further agree that you will not make any claims against Linden Lab or against other users of the Service based on any allegations that any activities by either of the foregoing within the Service infringe your (or anyone else's) patent rights.

Duranske's right, that's a big deal for people holding patents or filing for patents, who wish to exercise them within Second Life. Granted, the patent system is generally pretty broken and in dire need of reform - but it is also the system that currently exists, and this might be considered somewhat of a surprise for some people.