Ozimals Lawsuit Co-Filer Defends Actions, Expresses Regret for Disruption to Second Life Community of Virtual Animal Lovers

Above: Ozimal's Candy Cerveau and Mr Malkavyn Eldrich

Aki Shichiroji*, owner of Akimeta, the co-filer in the lawsuit against Ozimals which led to the closing of the popular virtual animal brand in Second Life, confirmed to me by e-mail that she's the author of a long statement recently posted online, defending the legal action taken by her and Neobokrug Elytis:

"I can confirm that's me in that document," she told me. She went to express regret for the thousands of Ozimals owners now struggling to keep their virtual creatures virtually alive:

"I will reiterate, as we outlined in our release, that we are genuinely upset that the choices and actions undertaken by Ozimals LLC/Inc, Malkavyn Eldritch and Candy Cerveau after seven years of evasion and legal delay have resulted in the abrupt discontinuation of their game and such a disruption of the strong and vibrant community that arose from it. I cannot offer further comment for publication at this time."

She left it at that and referred me to her lawyer for further questions. I'm still trying to connect with Malkavyn Eldritch and Candy Cerveau for their own comment, and will update this post when I do.

*By the way, if you've noticed I'm only referring to all the parties involved by their avatar name even though this story is about a real life legal dispute, there's a very good reason for that: My impression is they are now targets of enormous outrage among Ozimals owners and supporters, and I'd rather not encourage  any more real life harassment and doxing than is already likely happening. That in mind, please refer to NWN's Comments policy before commenting below.

Comments

[Savannah Edge]

It's true...just like monkey's we in the bunny world will sling poo at those that mess with our bunnies.

*rolls eyes at them thinking we are going to do something*.

[Carlos Loff]

Now she says that - First acts on money, and only later think about people

[Mike Kalber]

This is quite interesting. Actually, Aki could even go one step further, and file copyright complaints to Linden Labs, to have them delete all assets and objects "created" by Ozimals. If they do this, even all the timepieced bunnies would be gone forever.

[don]

What's the problem?

I kick, shoot and beat virtual animals almost every day!

Good fun.

[Heartbroken...]

For those of you following all the SL and Gamer threads ..... please confront Edward/Neo and Aki to reveal the full license agreement they claim that Ozimals broke which seems to be missing from their posts ...

[whispers magic]

Mike I think Aki would need to actually produce the actual license first and we are waiting for that.

[ToTheBunnyKillers...]

I have said over and over if your going to do business remember the age old rule "The customer comes first!" Reveal the full license agreement you claim that Ozimals broke which seems to be missing from their posts. Reading the prior court case involving virtual pets and understood it correctly, there can be no copy rights on any virtual pets the judge ruled.

[Mike Kalber]

One thing i don't understand: I thought Aeron and Malkavyn were the same person behind the avatars, while Aeron was mostly used as the "creator account"... Correct me if i'm wrong. But that's how i understood it.
And even if it's the same person, why wouldn't he be allowed to transfer assets to his own alt?
Sorry, but the whole story sounds a bit confusing to me.

[Calantha Theas]

If you read the press release, it says that the work Aki and Neo were contracted to do was solely for Ozimals LLC and the material was not to be transferred without their permission. Since Ozimals the company was apparently dissolved last year, the work can no longer legally be used. That's the basis of the C&D order and seems quite straightforward to me.

I'm not sure why people think they need to see the entirety of the original licences rather than just the extract quoted in the press release? If they implied anything different then surely Ozimals would have published them by now, seeing as both parties would have copies of any agreement made.

I love my bunnies. I am sad about my bunnies. Regardless of this clusterfuck, I am grateful to everyone who had a role in making them so that I could get seven and a half years of enjoyment from them.

[Alexxis]

" it says that the work Aki and Neo were contracted to do was solely for Ozimals LLC and the material was not to be transferred without their permission."

The best advice is create everything yourself, while if the scripting gets hard then just contract it out to someone who is no longer active in SL but takes Paypal, while they might have moved on but still potent to get the job done, only one upfront fee forever, not some loan shark royalty BS on scripts.
plenty of former Opensimulator Developers or out of work starving viewer developers who need a quick but honest buck.

You know, creator or Aki, whatever you prefer to be called, for $500 you can get one of several high talent creators in SL to make you an exclusive dress or shoes that will fit all the major bodies, plus all files.. the whole nine yards, professionally done, with it being yours forever! guess what?, since it is something I do often=)..'never in a million years would you find me hounding them 7yrs later nor asking royalties..they bought it.....they own it!

I do believe Aki left out very important details, while her friends over on SLU will defend her and peckerwood, so no hard questions will be pushed there nor will they have to defend themselves from the half truths they have told,
myself thinking everyone was wrong, the two who smelt blood in the water hoping to leech off the profits until days end, to the stupid one who agreed to the contracts, too stupid to see the big picture and shop around for real contractors, not unwanted business partners who when conveniently become just mere unpaid innocent contractors when the shoe is on the other foot.

The only real victims were the breedable owners and the cute Pufflings murdered due to just vanity and greed by all three of the guilty ones.

[savannah edge]

@Calantha Theas because there are different types of licenses. One gives you the right to basically transfer to whoever you please. If that was the case she has no case. Neo was paid so he is just plain greedy.

[sirhc deSantis]

And was a 'volunteer' keeping them alive http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39999809

dear oh dear news sources eh?

[Eleri Hamilton]

I find the whole "Your business model changed, therefore you can't use the assets we sold you anymore." argument very confusing. Whatever the underlying business structure, Ozimals has been the same product and people for years.

If I pay an artist for a business logo in the real world, and then my business changes from a sole proprietorship to an LLC or vice versa, I still get to use the logo. If I'm still the owner of the business that bought the logo DBA that business, it's still mine.

It *might* be in an asset contract that if I completely rearranged and renamed the business, or if I sold that business to unrelated parties, the logo could no longer be used- but that would be very clearly stated in the original contract for the logo; it wouldn't be a default assumption.

So, unless that original contract says, explicitly "We're selling these assets to Ozimals LLC exclusively, and they can not be transferred to any other entity, even if it is all the same people, and if the LLC ends, the asset licence ends." then they have a really shaky leg to stand on. And, given how prolonged this legal battle is, I'm going to bet there isn't a really clearly stated clause like that; otherwise a judge would have found it.

The whole thing has some very serious implications for content creators- what's next? Buying the mesh for some clothing, developing a popular clothing line based on those meshes, and then having the mesh creator come after you if you rebrand, or need a different business model?

[Lucio Pelazzi]

Do they really think that by simply "expressing their regret" all of us bunny owners who have spent literally thousands of dollars will be codified??? The pompous naivete of that is astounding!

A Disgruntled Bunny Owner