Senban Babii has a fun challenge: Visualize what your avatar would look like if it existed in the real world. That's Ms. Babii's avatar above left, and her RL analog above right. (I'm not clear if the RL version is Senban herself in real life, but it's a pretty cool execution either way.) If you do take up Senban's challenge, do please put a link to your SL/RL avatar photos in Comments.
UPDATE, 11/26: Original real life photo derived from "THE SHIBARI SCHOOL #2 - MINA 4211" (possibly NSFW) copyright "Cortez77_fr" -- click here to see his Flickr stream, a cool photographic collection of zombies, superheroes, and other geek goodness.
SL:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobeschism/5930736872/
RL:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobeschism/6399425451/
Posted by: BobE | Friday, November 25, 2011 at 04:34 PM
"I'm not clear if the RL version is Senban herself in real life".
Unlikely, unless she is the model in the original Shibari bondage pic here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cortez77_fr/3704209696/
It is also worth noting that the creator of the original photograph states, "My Pictures and Digital creations may not be reproduced or used in any way."
I'm suspecting Ms Babii did not get permission to use this artist's work, let alone to deface it in the way she has done, as I can see no mention of, or credit to the original creator either here or in her own blog.
Posted by: Frank Observation | Friday, November 25, 2011 at 05:24 PM
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nebulosus_severine/6403820853/in/photostream
Here ya go, brah.
Posted by: Nebulosus Severine | Friday, November 25, 2011 at 10:47 PM
*sigh*
There's always one ;)
No, the photo is not me (sorry to dash your hopes there Hamlet!). The photo is indeed that model. However as a derivative work it falls under fair usage. And I would be absolutely thrilled to include the name of the model and give her full credit in my blog if I had some way of finding out who she is (Mina perhaps?) and a way of contacting her. If you can help, please do so.
I happened to find the image - although not at that Flickr link - (and some others from the same set) while searching for reference material a few months ago (it might be longer now, I honestly forget) and was struck by the visual similarity to my avatar (right down to the lip ring), which is what got me thinking about the whole "what if your avatar could step off the grid" thing. But it was only recently I got round to doing anything about it because previously my ability with photo manipulation software was virtually non-existent. They're not great now either of course but they were at least workable enough to give a rough approximation of what I was trying to achieve. I'm actually not happy with the ear position and might yet make some slight changes to the eyes. It's a work in progress.
Posted by: Senban Babii | Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 03:48 AM
*sigh*
There IS always one.
"...as a derivative work it falls under fair usage."
Which part of "My Pictures and Digital creations may not be reproduced or used in any way" do you not understand?
Posted by: Frank Observation | Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 05:37 AM
Perhaps it was the original artist who does not understand "My Pictures and Digital creations may not be reproduced or used in any way". That is, one simply does not have the legal right to make that claim.
From http://w2.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.php:
"In essence, fair use is a limitation on the exclusive rights of copyright holders. The Copyright Act gives copyright holders the exclusive right to reproduce works for a limited time period. Fair use is a limitation on this right. A use which is considered "fair" does not infringe copyright, even if it involves one of the exclusive rights of copyright holders. Fair use allows consumers to make a copy of part or all of a copyrighted work, even where the copyright holder has not given permission or objects to your use of the work."
Fair use is absolutely critical to our global culture, let alone SL. Deny it, and say good bye vast swaths of content in-world.
Posted by: Robin Streeter | Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 06:49 AM
so if i state explicitly "My Pictures and Digital creations may not be reproduced or used in any way" anyone can say "You have no legal right to protect your intellectual property and i will use it anyway" ? .. that's new to me, but good to know.
Posted by: Carol | Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 10:18 AM
I'm the photographer of the original picture. it's funny to read I have no rights on my works and everybody could play with others creation and claim they're right. so try to play with The Beattles or Elvis songs, change some words and claim this is your creation ?
"Fair use allows consumers to make a copy of part or all of a copyrighted work, even where the copyright holder has not given permission or objects to your use of the work."
That's tell you could post a creation or a part as illustration (for news or other purposes) it's not give you the right to CHANGE the original creation( you do).
And I'm afraid to tell you, I'm not under the US law, and mine is really more restrictive about mind creation, I have all the rights in my works, and the model have rights of their image too. As you use and change without her permission , she could legaly start action too.
"The photo is indeed that model. However as a derivative work it falls under fair usage. And I would be absolutely thrilled to include the name of the model and give her full credit in my blog if I had some way of finding out who she is (Mina perhaps?) and a way of contacting her"
So in the original picture there is IN the picture TEXT with link back to MY Flickr Acount,and you have problems to find ? need glasses ? or your computer auto cuts signatures ? XD
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cortez77_fr/3704209696/
Stop kidind me. You could have asked before, I'm always open.
Posted by: Cortez77 | Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 11:09 AM
I look the same in RL as I do in SL so not much so that's an easy task.
Time to find the camera.
Posted by: Jo yardley | Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 08:59 PM
I'm not an expert on fair use, but talking with numerous lawyers on the subject, I can definitely say it's a highly contentious issue. At the very least, I will say it's a very very good idea, when using a photo which you believe is for fair use purposes, to at least include a credit and link to the original creator.
Cortez77, I just sent you an e-mail.
Posted by: Hamlet Au | Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 10:54 PM
@Cortez77: You do, indeed, not have any rights to control fair use or derivatives. That is sort of the whole point of those concepts.
However, fair use is generally pretty well defined and relates, broadly speaking, to news reporting, teaching and parody.
Derivative works is something else, and that is - as Hamlet says - a can of worms. The basic question here is, how much must the components be changed before it qualifies as a new work, and not an infringement.
(And from a total layperson's view, I'd have to say, I believe Senban's picture is quite far from qualifying as a new work.)
Posted by: Tali | Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 10:51 AM
No sir, not going to happen, no how, no way!
Posted by: Adeon Writer | Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 12:30 PM
My non-professional, "don't quote me I'm not a lawyer" opinion is that this is derivative but not transformative and therefore not subject to fair use provisions under U.S. law. The non-commercial nature of the use can be a factor in court, but it's not sufficient to win a fair use defense by itself.
And that's not taking into account the law of the country of origin, which can have stricter definitions and more severe penalties.
Apart from the legal aspect, ripping off somebody else's work, slapping minor changes on it, and presenting it as your own is tacky and unethical. It's also bad art.
Posted by: Arcadia Codesmith | Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 11:12 PM
Derivative or not, I agree, Arcadia: Credits and links are good karma.
I had a nice e-mail chat with Cortez77, who told me it was OK to keep the photo up there with a credit to him and a link to his Flickr page, which has a lot of cool pics. So at least one good thing came out of this post.
Posted by: Hamlet Au | Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 11:57 PM
nice to see one picture taken from one of my events has been used for your own use ...
Posted by: Jerome G. | Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 06:09 AM