Saturday, April 3, 2010

Fair Use Gets a Fair Shake in Second Life - (EFF.org)

Fair Use Gets a Fair Shake in Second Life

Commentary by Eva Galperin of EFF.org
 
Kudos to Linden Lab, which has just release an update to the Terms of Service for their virtual world, Second Life, that includes language that will protect fair use of screenshots and machinima. The new Snapshot and Machinima Content License grants Linden Lab and other users of Second Life a license to use “in snapshots and machinima your Content that is displayed in-World in publicly accessible areas of the Service.”

Machinima, which refers works that use real-time 3-D graphics engines to generate computer animation, could have presented a special problem for Second Life, where every individual object in view is potentially a different person’s intellectual property. Getting permission from so many owners of IP in order to create a machinima is potentially nightmarish. Instead of running from the new kinds of fair use enabled by new technologies, Linden Lab has embraced them. The new license allows Second Life users to reserve the rights to their creations by placing them in areas that are not publicly accessible. Second Life makes tools available to users that allow them to restrict access to their Virtual Land and its contents. The rules are simple and intuitive: if you don’t want people taking pictures of your floating city/dancing bear/epic space opera, don’t leave your floating city/dancing bear/epic space opera in a public place.

Linden Lab’s behavior should be an object lesson to movie studios and major record labels, who have alienated their own fans by trying to thwart new fair uses as they come along, whether through DRM or DMCA takedowns. Linden Lab has shown that there are innovative new ways to give the green-light to fair uses while still giving users the freedom to protect their creations. We hope that movie studios and major record labels are taking notes, because Linden Lab is showing them how it’s done.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

the TOS gives nothing.FAIR USE was explicit BEFORE THR NEW TOS

the new tos says USE...any use.not FAIR USE,

The NEW TOS offers " BROAD USAGE" and inFACT TAKES AWAY from creators IP rights and their ability to make a living.

Dont be a chump DD> read closer.
This is a FRE GRAB to devalue CONTENT ONLINE, NOT SUPPORT CREATORS RIGHTS.

This si the same LL that "MADE BANK WITH UNPAID FOR DERIVATIVE AVATAR IP ADs"

c3

Unknown said...

I agree with everything you said up until the part where you call me a chump.

Am I a chump because I posted EFF's commentary on the matter?

As you can plainly see, I am not the writer of this article. And just because I posted it in my blog doesn't mean I agree with it, or stand behind it. I haven't voiced my opinion on the new ToS or my reaction to Eva Galperin's commentary whatsoever. This EFF post is their food for thought. So, don't call me a chump 'anonymous'

Anonymous said...

actually i signed the post...
C3

as in cube3

Posting without agenda is what a machine programmed to post does...

DD's "Take": and then a post...

Seems "reasonable" to look at the posting as an endorsement. As any one with half a brain KNOWS that the repost will be "reposted" and thus create an illusion of importance....right?

or do you not get what blogging on a network "really is all about" ;)

im gonna give you that doubt..:)-- you showed balls in your RL "value" accounting of "virtual stars" via CNN? based puff for LL's monetizing machine.:)

OK so dont be a free robot.. what do you think?:)

the anonymous tag is again "anothers agragagting monetizer machines" attempt to "guilt" me trying to get me to give my info to them to monetize on....

no thanks, blogger.com:)

c3

Unknown said...

Sorry, I didn't see the C3 tag., my bad. I usually jump on anonymous people when they comment, cause I just think it's trolling... but I'm glad you meant it to be posted as you Cube, and it was just blogger being stupid.

My blog, since the beginning of it is that I post things I find interesting, or have valid points to it. ... and no, I honestly still don't know what "blogging" or my blog is even about.... I post about subjects I find interesting. I post about commentaries I find interesting. On occasion, they are not what I personally agree with, but I still find validity in the post.

When I post my own opinion on something, I'm very clear that I'm the writer, and I usually use the tag "doubledown's dinky rants"

EFF.org is something I stand behind. This one person's commentary does indeed make smart, valid points, and also I cover a lot of DRM, IP, and Music Sharing related issues on my blog... so all in all, I felt the commentary was worth a post.

I'm also very tempted to post Grace McDunnough's counterpoint at http://phasinggrace.blogspot.com/2010/04/linden-lab-please-raise-your-grok.html

All in all, I support EFF.org, and although this commentary is an askew outsider's perspective of new Linden Lab terms, it's a legit opinion in the overall spectrum of creative commons content and the ability to share and share alike.

And by the way, I haven't read the new ToS, nor will I... I simply don't care. I'm not going to change my SL behavior. I also know my shit in SL is not important enough to care about it. The new ToS might affect the big players, or at least maybe they want to perpetuate the drama to feel important..... but none of the ToS matters until a case shows up in court.... until then, LL is coming out with their rules, and us users and going to continue to do what we want.

Anonymous said...

sad.. but your attitude IS that of a chump then after all.
you believe only what imediattly affects YOU is of value. and franley only in the most narrow of ways. Which is why i guess you believe and say you support the EFF pr. or a TOS without really knowing what it says, or attempting to foresee it's consequenses.

You value yourself and your works very low and assist others who benefit from lowering others value as well. Nothing new there i guess.

Indeed a micro-serf maybe all you are intended to ever be in virtual-real world. A clown allowed to only act at the Kings will.

How meta.

cube3

Unknown said...

You're just acting like a troll now. Not even going to bother with you.

Either you completely misunderstand me, or purposely bating me for a meaningless argument.

Either way, it's my blog, and I post what I want. You're the fool for trying to pick a fight with the air.

Why don't you post your thoughts to EFF instead of trying to fight with someone that has the same stance as you?