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The p.I. and companies: second life – promotion and unauthorized use of brands in the virtual world

More and more major brands are attracted by the high identification of users with their avatars. (Second Life photo) Online games give birth to rights whose protection is ensured under the intellectual property system. But the creators of virtual worlds such as Second life also recognize intellectual property of a new genre, developed by players who evolve and interact in the worlds they have created. On these rights rests a whole trade in virtual creations which has made millionaires in the real world. This article* examines the use of brand rights in Second Life, where intellectual property constitutes the cornerstone of real trade. It was adapted with the kind authorization of the Inta Bulletin (© 2007 International Association for Brands). A completely new world – a world conducive to the promotion of brands as much as to their illegal use – is born: the world of virtual reality. The press with a big draw more and more often tells us about commercial activities carried out in virtual worlds. In a recently published report, Gartner, Inc., A research and advice firm specializing in information technology, tells us that by the end of 2011, 80% of active users of the Internet will have, in a form or another, a presence in a virtual world. One of the most popular currently is second LIFE®, an online economy whose growth rate is greater than 25% per month. Often presented as a “massively multi-playing online role-playing game (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game or MMORPG – pronounce “mor peg”), second life is certainly not a traditional computer game. According to Linden Lab, the company of San Francisco (California) to which second LIFE belongs and which manages it, it is a “online three -dimensional world whose rapidly growing population comes from more than 100 countries and in Which everything-houses, vehicles, nightclubs, shops, landscapes, clothes, games and others-is created by the residents themselves ”. The latter are virtual characters named avatars, created by their users. More and more major brands are attracted by the high identification of users with their avatars and the possibility that this world offers to create virtual companies that are very likely to participate in the real economy. In addition to offering a new field of promotion of brands as well as the creation and use of intellectual property rights, this environment also opens the door to new possibilities of breach of intellectual property rights, and in particular the rights of the brand.

“You remain the holder of copyright and any other intellectual property right relating to the content you create on Second Life.” – Second life, conditions of use, 3.2

Possibilities and issues

Linden Lab’s policy with regard to allegations of copyright infringement complies with the provisions of the United States of America on copyright in a digital environment (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). With regard to brand rights, it is specified on the second life site that “in general, Linden staff withdraw any content making a brand without visible authorization, that the latter or not is accompanied by an opinion for this purpose to the holder of the object concerned … Any resident who notes that a brand is the subject of an unauthorized use on the part of another resident on Second Life can fill out an abusive behavior declaration.”No case law currently makes it possible to know if the use by an avatar of a real brand in a virtual world is constitutive of brand use – one of the necessary conditions for damage to the right of brand. Brands holders must be aware of the possibilities and issues that virtual worlds present for them such as Second Life. Some have established retail stores on Second Life and use this online presence to sell their products in the real world. All considerations relating to the reputation of brands or to damage to the latter exist in this new medium, exactly as in the real world. Complaints have already been filed for counterfeiting or attachment to copyright due to illegal appropriation of objects created and used in virtual worlds. If we consider that it is currently being made more than 11.5 million transactions per month in this area, it would be enough that only one hundred only includes the unauthorized use of a brand so that we Faced in front of 115,000 potential legal actions, or more than 1.4 million per year. It is essential, for brand holders, to get an idea of ​​the second life potential as a sales vector. With an attendance of almost tied men and women whose average age is 32 years old and who therefore have a real purchasing power, the virtual world has indeed become for companies an ideal place where to market their products. The incredible growth rate of the site further strengthens this observation. It is therefore not surprising that companies such as Toyota, Dell and Reebok decided to take a stand on the “digital market” by opening their own online stores and choosing to use them for advertising purposes.
The average user is online 20 to 40 hours per week. (Second Life photo) More than nine million accounts have been opened on second life since its creation, in 2003 (remember that several avatars may have been created for the same account), while the so-called active community, that is to say that of people who regularly frequent the site, would have 600,000 residents. More than half of second life users live in Europe, and a third, in the United States. The average user is online 20 to 40 hours per week. In tribute to the meteoric popularity of Second Life, Time magazine included this year Philip Rededale, the creator of the site, in his list of 100 most influential personalities in the world, and presses agencies such as Reuters posted journalists on Second life. The Land of Bade-Wurtemberg, Germany, has a representation on Second Life, where it was joined by the Embassies of the Maldives and Sweden. Second Life has among its residents a virtual business incubator named Nonprofit Commons, with 30 non -profit organizations, and the association of the Linden bar which, in latest news, has 30 completely real lawyers. The American Cancer Company organized a collection of virtual donations which enabled it to bring together US $ in the months preceding its Relay for Life event.

“You will have to comply with the provisions of the United States of America’s law on copyright in a digital environment for any complaint for the benefit of copyright provided for by said law.” – Second life, conditions of use, 4.3

Virtual intellectual property business trade

Two important differences distinguish second life from other MMORPG. First, players keep intellectual property rights applying to the virtual objects they create. It is indeed stipulated, under the conditions of use: “The holder of copyright and other intellectual property rights relating to the content that you create on Second Life belongs to you as the applicable legislation recognizes you such rights”. As a result, residents are increasingly creating digital objects and goods for avatars, in order to sell them to other users. Second, Second Life has its own currency, the “Linden Dollar”, which can be discussed on a currency scholarship named Lindex at the rate of 270linden dollars for a dollar é.-U. at the current rate. There are at least three other exchange offices where players can swap the Linden Dollars against a very real curly that they have accumulated by selling other residents of digital creations or virtual real estate. According to Philip Rededale, who participated on August 1, 2007, in the Technology Fair Alwayson, residents earning more than $ 1,000.-U. per month on second life are 830. Some have even sufficient success, in their virtual commercial activities, to make it their main source of income. Second Life and the other massively multi-playing games gave birth to a virtual real estate market of total value estimated at several hundred millions of dollars.-U., And the size of the “second life economy” has just doubled in six months. According to the magazine Time, $ 6.8 million.-U. changed hands on Lindex in June 2007 and the US Congress examines the possibility of taxation. There are now companies entirely devoted to the creation of virtual goods in virtual universes.
The computer manufacturer Dell has created a factory and a virtual store on Second Life.(Photos Dell Computers)

“Any resident who notes that a brand is subject to unauthorized use on the part of another resident on Second Life can fulfill a declaration of abusive behavior.»

Surveillance of illicit behavior

By allowing its users to keep the property of their creations and exchange their virtual currency for ringing and stumbling dollars, Second Life stimulated the creation of a real consumption economy in cyberspace, but as we could Waiting, the latter has given rise to numerous cases of infringement of intellectual property rights. Avatars can, for example, buy from “enterprising” residents of virtual shoes Nike coated with the distinctive comma logo of the brand or the ipod trades filled with the capacity of the most popular successes, and that without Nike, Apple or the performers have authorized the creation and sale of virtual articles operating their brands, works, drawings and models or other high -value intellectual property rights. The conditions of use published by Second Life prohibit these attacks, but as in the real world, it is most often the police that they are doing the police. If a large number of rights holders seem to have chosen to wait to see what direction will take the emerging popularity of Second Life, it is nevertheless important that they become aware of the commercial potential of this universe and the risks of attack that it presents. In any case, it has given rise, so far, to at least one justice procedure in the real world: EROS, LLC is continuing for copyright, brand counterfeiting and false representation, due to unauthorized reproduction and sale of a virtual bed addressing adults. * Adaptation by the OMPI magazine of an article Susan D. Rector, Schottenstein Zox & Dunn Co., Columbus, Ohio, é.-U., Peter Giddens, Lang Michener LLP, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Ron Klagsbald, Price-Klagsbald Law Offices, Ramat-Gan, Israel, Dinisa Hardley Folmar, The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, Georgia, é.-U., Thomas Laperle, Apple Inc., Cupertino, California,.-U., Ellen Shankman, Ellen Shankman & Associates, Rehovot, Israel, published in the Bulletin de l’Inta n> ° 17, Vol. 62 September 15, 2007. ________________

Virtual economy

From an initial investment of $ 9.95 é.-U., Or the price the opening of a second life account, the avatar Anshe Chung has made its creator Ailin Graef a millionaire in real life. For this, Anshe bought on the Second Life of Real Estate which she knew brilliantly subdivide, develop and landscape before returning it to the market or for sale on the market. Other avatars then bought the lifestyle thus created by Anshe who, two and a half years later, became a great virtual real estate promoter whose projects compete with large -scale models of the real world. Anshe Chung is only one of the virtual residents of the Second Life world who provide their owner with a comfortable income. More and more subscribers now exercise a commercial activity on Second Life. In April 2007, the average value of transactions carried out every day in this economy was $ 1.5 million.-U. The products offered for sale range from clothing and hair and skin textures for avatars to vehicles, furniture and, of course, houses – sold, for the most part, under brands specific to the world of Second Life. In the absence of any financial or physical barrier at the entrance, success is exclusively a question of aesthetic quality and brand image. Anyone can measure themselves in the most important, known and most luxurious brands in the real world, as soon as they are located on Second Life. However, threats also hover over this virtual market. At the end of 2006, the Avatar Prim Revolution indeed caused the ire of Second Life residents by putting for sale under the name of Copybot a program capable of duplicating any virtual object without paying it – At the same time putting the entire virtual economy of Second Life at the same time as well as its repercussions in the real world. The program was prohibited by Linden Labs, and residents can fulfill a declaration of abusive behavior and file a complaint under copyright law in a digital environment, but the procedure is complex. Anyway, the future of Ailin Graef seems assured. It has indeed founded Anshe Chung Studios, a real company based in China in which are created immersive 3D environments intended for applications as diverse as teaching, business conferences and the development of product prototypes.

The WIMPI magazine aims to facilitate understanding of intellectual property and the action of the OMPI among the general public and is not an official document of the OMPI. The designations used and the presentation of the data which appear in this publication imply on the part of the OMPI no position as to the legal status of the countries, territories or areas concerned or their authorities, nor as to the layout of their borders or territorial limits. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Member States or the OMPI Secretariat. The mention of specific companies or products from certain manufacturers does not imply that the OMPI approves them or preferably recommends them to other companies or similar products that are not mentioned.

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