EFF Tells Hollywood, Record Labels: Be Like Linden Lab!

Last week Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer Fred von Lohmann told me he liked the Lindens' new fair use policy for Second Life machinima and screenshots, and it turns out the EFF in general does too. Currently on the homepage of the venerable online civil liberties site is the post, "Fair Use Gets a Fair Shake in Second Life" by EFF's Eva Galperin (pictured), with the bracing claim, "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." I like this summary of the new Linden TOS rules, which suggest Ms. Galperin isn't unfamiliar with Second Life:

The rules are simple & 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 space that allows it.

Often, all three happen simultaneously!

Comments

[Crap Mariner]

Call music a "killer ap" and then screw up event listings in the new client?

-ls/cm

[cube inada]

FAIR USE...?
Where does the TOS term it "fair use" which is common and typical in Hollywood as well.
"NEW"? fair usage laws? Do tell?

"USAGE" is termed...for screen shots/multiple screen shots taken.

Enjoy the Virtual World. With Lawyers and bloggers like these...there's not much NEW about it.

https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=2226988

IM AN ARTIST
C3

[Frans]

Ugh this story keeps being pushed, what she says is not correct at all.

She says: 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.”

This makes you think you can shoot machinima in every normally reachable public place.

But that is not at all what the TOS States.

Quote from ToS:
"For Machinima, check whether the covenant for the land allows machinima. If it does not or doesn’t address machinima, then you need special permission from the land owner to capture machinima. If it allows machinima, then you do not need special permission from the land owner as long as you comply with any terms that may be in the covenant."

For Machinima, check whether the covenant for the land allows machinima. If it does not or doesn’t address machinima, then you need special permission from the land owner to capture machinima. If it allows machinima, then you do not need special permission from the land owner as long as you comply with any terms that may be in the covenant.

Which means you have to ask permission first in most cases. I don't think that is a big issue. For a professional, you work for clients who have given you permission. For the amateur it might be a hurdle.

It would be helpful if there was a checkbox that would say, I Allow Machinima.

The ToS doesn't seem trendsetting at all, you can't film unless you have permission. That is how it is everywhere already.

Link to the Snapshot and machinima policy
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Snapshot_and_machinima_policy

[Frans]

Oops, I quoted the same section twice. I apologize.

What the ToS does say, is that if you make content, it can be used in a machinima. Which is something different, it doesn't mean you can record machinima where ever you want, as the snapshot and machinima policy clarifies.

[cube inada]

RIGHT.. which IS why is TOTALLY UNETHICAL.. since 99% of all visual media in SL IS others people IP content, stored in Inventories, and only REZZED onto "land" temporarily for display.

One now can ONLY protect ones IP by NOT SHOWING IT, NOT SELLING IT, and BUYING A PRIVATE SIM to "display it". Well and you just have lost all "potection" for any item transfered under any license for the last 6 years,

this was NOT the original TOS or intent that brought thousands of IP owner/mkers INTO SL...eh? or was it?

Fair usage was ALWAYS protected by LAW... Now LL claims to GIVE ALL LOGGED IN a LICENSE to COMMERCIALLY PROFIT from OTHERS works, with only the "land settings" as a TOOL for method of enforcing THEIR--NOT the SIM HOSTS- IP RIGHTS- for ALL media headed OUTSIDE of SL as well.- Talk about SERFDOM and LAND OWNERS RIGHTS given by the KINGdom.

How very Noble of LL..eh?

M'art for sale.
search-- well as much as that works-- the SLX.;)

[Hamlet Au]

Frans, you're not quoting from the ToS, you're quoting from the wiki policy guidelines. I'm not a lawyer (but Fred at EFF is), and the ToS makes it clear that the default assumption is permission to shoot in public spaces without having to ask first. Because the onus to opt-out is on the content owners:

* * *

7.4 You also grant 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.

You agree that by uploading, publishing, or submitting any Content to any publicly accessible areas of the Service, you hereby grant each user of Second Life a non-exclusive license to access the User Content through the Service, and to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content In-World or otherwise on the Service solely as permitted by you through your interactions with the Service under these Terms of Service. This license is referred to as the "User Content License," and the Content being licensed is referred to as "User Content."

"Publicly accessible" areas of the Service are those areas that are accessible to other users of Second Life. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO GRANT USERS OF SECOND LIFE A USER CONTENT LICENSE, YOU AGREE THAT IT IS YOUR OBLIGATION TO AVOID DISPLAYING OR MAKING AVAILABLE YOUR CONTENT TO OTHER USERS. [emph mine]. For example, you may use Virtual Land tools to limit or restrict other users' access to your Virtual Land and thus the Content on your Virtual Land.

[cube inada]

"Because the onus to opt-out is on the content owners:"

which they cannot do once content has been made public, or transfered to anothers inventory under OTHER-OLDER terms, that now LL has chosen to invalidate for purely their own financial short term gains?

OPT-OUT--? Unethical after SO much Content has been released into the grid by its IP owners under much more fair understanding of IP value and joint interest.

[cube inada]

hmm. 7.4 looks a bit differnt on my machine

7.4 You also grant 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.
You agree that by uploading, publishing, or submitting any Content to or through the Servers for display In-World in any publicly accessible area of the Service, you hereby grant each user of Second Life and Linden Lab a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to photograph, capture an image of, film, and record a video of the Content, and to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the resulting photograph, image, film, or video in any current or future media as provided in and subject to the restrictions and requirements of our Snapshot and Machinima Policy. The foregoing license is referred to as the "Snapshot and Machinima Content License."

"Publicly accessible" areas of the Service are those areas that are accessible to other users of Second Life. If you do not wish to grant users of Second Life a Snapshot and Machinima Content License, you agree that it is your obligation to avoid displaying or making available your Content to other users. For example, you may use Virtual Land tools to limit or restrict other users' access to your Virtual Land and thus the Content on your Virtual Land.

[Frans]

Hamlet, you are skipping over section 14 which states:

The following additional terms and policies are incorporated by reference in and made part of this Agreement, and provide additional terms, conditions and guidelines regarding the Service.

Underneath that is a whole list of extra documents, that are now part of the agreement.
The snapshot and machinima policy is part of that.

http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php#tos14

[cube inada]

from TOS:

You agree that you will not copy, transfer, or distribute outside the Service any Content that contains any Linden In-World Content, in whole or in part or in modified or unmodified form, except as allowed by the Snapshot and Machinima Policy, or that infringes or violates any Intellectual Property Rights of Linden Lab, other Content Providers, or any third parties.

So whats the take here ?--

[cube inada]

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

FAIR USE:
I suggest all read this. You dont have LL or Hamlet, or the EFF to thank for this.

C3

[Hamlet Au]

Frans, I showed Fred at EFF both the new ToS and the policy addendum at the wiki, and they interpreted it as fair use. It's possible the ToS overrides the language in the guideline addendum, but not being a lawyer, I dunno.

[cube inada]

uh.. everyone always HAD FAIR USE laws to utilize IF they desired others IP.

The Screenshot and machinima Policies SEEM to suggest much more..a GIVEN License for "USE" - BEYOND "FAIR" USE.- to anyone adding to Lindens "registration" infobanks as an "account" $$$ chanching IPO sell off---.

Why else would "commercial machinima creators" be heralding this give away of others IP license rights?

[Frans]

Hamlet, I'm not saying if it is fair use or not.

Yes it does clear up any questions that could arise from the content used. It is good that LL made a decision here. I'm also not saying that having to ask permission is bad.

LL is making a separation of location and content.

What I'm saying is that the EFF blog post is just not correct. The article implies that you can film machinima in all public locations, unless they say No.

That is not true, you will have to ask permission from the land estate owner first.

The EFF post is oversimplifying things, and grouping Snapshot and Machinima together. While LL purposely made the rules for Snapshot and Machinima different.

Snapshots are always allowed, unless told differently. Machinima is always disallowed, unless told different.

[cube inada]

http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2010/04/07/photographers-file-copyright-claims-over-google-book-search

I suggest a look....