The Scary Problem With Virtual World Fashion Creators Putting RL Fashion Brand Logos on Their Products (Guest Post by Alicia Chenaux)

 

With Linden Lab just announcing they plan to be much more aggressive around IP violations in Second Life, this great social media post on a related topic from famed SLer Alicia Chenaux is worth highlighting in full:

 

I keep being shown a viral Instagram post about someone tagging major real world logos that are showing up unauthorized in Second Life.  So let's talk about it.

 

Will anything happen because of this one post tagging RL brands? Debatable. However, if someone were to professionally write to the legal teams at Chanel, Balenciaga, Kellogg's, McDonald's, etc., yes. Something could happen.

 

Only not in the way they think.

 

When you sign into Second Life for the first time, or whenever Linden Lab updates the Terms of Service, you have to agree before proceeding. Does anyone really sit and read the whole ToS? Probably not. But let me hit you with a couple of lines from section 6:

 

Linden Lab encourages the creation of original content in Second Life. You should not use copyrighted, trademarked, or celebrity material in Second Life.

 

So those items I showed you the past couple of months with Versace and Vuitton on them? You guessed it. They're breaking ToS.

 

"But, Ali. Fashion can't be copyrighted!"

 

No, it can't, for the most part. You can absolutely recreate a pair of Alice+Olivia jeans in the cut, style, and shape. What you can't do is take one of their embellished jeans and recreate them down to the EXACT graphic design down the legs. You could recreate them and put flowers down the legs, just not the exact ones that are designed specifically for Alice+Olivia.

 

You can recreate a Juicy tracksuit. You cannot put the exact Juicy logo on the butt.

 

Now here's where it gets a little iffy:

 

Virtual world copies and the limits of fair use parody

You *can* take a brand logo and recreate it in a parody type fashion as long as 1, there is a significant modification, and 2, everyone understands that it is a parody of the original brand.

 

Like recently, I showed a photo of me holding a cup that looked like a drink from Sonic. However, the logo on the cup said "Iconic." This is okay because everyone knows it's a parody. They were not trying to fool anyone into thinking this was an actual Sonic branded drink. This falls under the "fair use" doctrine in trademark law.

 

(Keep in mind that even with modifications, a brand still could take legal action if it's TOO close to the original logo. So always be careful.)

 

Now here's the thing. If the legal team at Versace is shown that someone is using the Versace logo and name in Second Life, nothing happens to Second Life. This falls on the creator of the item.

 

They can go after JUST that individual and that individual is not protected by Linden Lab. Because after all, that person agreed to the ToS.

 

Versace does not go after Linden Lab. They go after the creator.

 

Linden Lab can be subpoenaed by the company to give personal information in the case of a lawsuit. If you are a creator with payment info on file, they have your information. You are NOT protected because YOU broke the rules. It doesn't matter if you never read the ToS. It doesn't matter if "This other store does it, too." They aren't looking at that other store at the moment.

 

They're looking at you.

 

Best case scenario, you get a cease and desist letter and given a bit of time to remove your items.

 

Worst case... You're looking at a lawsuit. They have legal teams and a lot of money. Do you?

 

If you're a shopper of these types of items because you love Chanel and Givenchy and thought it was okay to have that in SL, what happens to you? Nothing, really. If the creator just leaves SL, or is banned, you probably still have your items. If something more happens to them, the items are removed from your inventory and you're given basically a box marked "IP Replacement."

 

I'll also stress that if you own or manage an event, do walkthroughs more than once. As we found out recently, certain brands get sneaky when they want to sell something and come back after opening to add items to their stalls that shouldn't be there. Keep an eye on your events so that they stay honorable.

 

Anyway, I know this is really long winded. But so many of you are really creative. You don't NEED to be using RL logos on your items. I'm not saying don't recreate beautiful RL clothing or decor because it's SL and we still love to have those things for ourselves there. But just do it the right way so that you can have your store for years to come.

 

 Alicia Chenaux has been a Second Life blogger and fashion maven for over 18 years. 

 

Originally published here. Read more about this topic in New World Notes' interview with USC professor Joanna Blackley.

Comments

[Joe Max]

Well, a maker just has to be clever. Like how the (now sadly defunct?) maker called her line of clothes "Blueberry", which looked an awful lot like stuff from RL designer Burberry. Everybody knew what that meant.