Gamers Rights Law » avatar

Stefani vs Activision

jaymoffitt — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:22:29 +0000

Well, I was going to promise not to talk about “the Big A” until next week. But I read perhaps the best legal article on gamer’s law in six months. You can read it here… http://copyrightlitigation.blogspot.com/2010/04/law-of-avatars-copyright-act-doesnt.html (Copyright Litigation Blog) Read the whole thing, and then pop back in here. I’ll wait.

Here’s the background links:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5A400320091105

Stefani vs. Activision Reuters story.

http://reporter.blogs.com/files/gov.uscourts.cacd.460150.3.0.pdf

Activision’s response (December 2009)

http://www.gamerlaw.co.uk/2009/12/no-doubt-vs-activision-legal-analysis.html

Gamerlaw article (December 2009)

I absolutely wholeheartedly recommend the article. It’s thought out and reminds one of the main problem of multinational corporations…. “jurisdiction, jurisdiction, jurisdiction”. In a world with no “there”, when does state law trump federal law? I’ll update the case notes on this as event warrant.

Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.

Avatars United Acquired By Linden Lab

jaymoffitt — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:00:14 +0000

This happened this week, as reported by VERN. I liked their quote, “Avatars United can be described as a sort of “Facebook for avatars”, complete with a third-party applications ecosystem.” On the Avatars United Website you can see over two dozen worlds/games that are represented. After the jump, I’ll get further into questions about the integration of these sites with real-life social networks.

For your information, just a snippet from Avatar United’s Terms of Service: ”Subject to the terms of our Privacy Policy, by transmitting or posting any User Submission, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, transferable, irrevocable, worldwide and fully sub-licensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, sell, assign, translate, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display in any form, media, or technology, whether known or hereafter developed, alone or as part of other works, perform the User Submissions in connection with the Avatars United Website and Avatars United’s (and its successor’s) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Avatars United Website (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels.”

In other parallel acquisition news, IMVU (avatar-based chat) announced acquisition plans with Zoosk. The full story here at Virtual World News, which lists the process as ” IMVU users over 18 just click the “Dating” link under the Community tab in IMVU and create their dating profile. Then they’re off. ” Simplifies things, heh?

Just a quick question for the developers of these games…. what are you doing, exactly? Is it just me (feel free to comment) but many of us are in online worlds to ESCAPE from the offline worlds. We aren’t visiting the games dragging in our real-world friends; we’re visiting the games to find more interesting friends… and to be a more interesting friend ourself. Many people I read seem to feel this is a slippery slope integrating the offline worlds more closely with the online worlds. It’s like going to a party and “the boss” being there, or a friend you owe money to. Is there no place going to be left (Even Second Life and IMVU) where you don’t think, “Why don’t I make this more real and find out this person’s real likeness; or even city and occupation? Might your healer be in real life a petty thief, or your petty thief a doctor? Do I want to know? Is this just me? Really?

For more serious considerations, think about this: Do these use the same terms of service? Do you have to “approve” the Terms of Service when you click-through to the other service the first time? Every time? If not, why not? Does it give notice just because you KNOW that they are associated in some fashion? What if you do not know? I think they will, especially as they go through the beta phase, reach some sort of “entry page” that forces you to acknowledge that you’re using the other site subject to their terms of conditions.

Avatar and Identity

jaymoffitt — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:19:34 +0000

Have you ever had your avatar stolen? I mean, was it your avatar, or was it just a photo you picked up from the internet? If it was, did you Photoshop it or make it somehow your own? What about your handle? Is it uniquely yours? Do you have it across several user-groups, or several games? Has someone ever taken that and you feel your reputation was hurt? What and how is an online identity forged, and why would you want to protect it? And how? Is it copyright; trademark; plagiarism; or all of the above? Why haven’t the cases given us guidance yet? A few links and a few thoughts follow:

Avatar, Identity, and Signature as moral guide; New Book by an author explains Theological Implications of our Avatars

Judging real people by their avatars; should we be ashamed, or is it just natural? (Another compelling article by the always thoughtful Pixels and Policy Website).

Avatars and online identity A piece by a VC (venture capitalist?) discussing the process of deciding upon an avatar. It talks more about perception than actual identity, but makes a lot of very good points.

Avatars and anonymity Article from IDtrail website that lists the anonymity that avatars give you as a good thing. Describes whether anonymity is a good end goal of itself – I’ve often been accused of being a paranoid person about anonymity – but this writing shows I’m not the only one. And most notably it does intertwine the idea of identity and avatar as one and the same.

Issues of Identity in Online Worlds Phenomenally powerful piece about identity in the online world. This is the link to the HTML version of the powerpoint. You should reference this and go back to it often if you’ve an interest in the topic. Author is listed as Ulrike Schultze, from Mardi Gras Conference 2009 at Lousiana State University.

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And now below the fold, for the hardcore that have made it this far, some reference material, “egghead” material if you will, for those wanting to guess what the courts will decide upon that first “huge” identity/avatar case.

Avatars and Personification A great database of anecdotal and also authoritative information on avatar the idea. A great read and an incredible starting point if you want to get into the meat of the psychology of this subject.

Identity as a multi-layered self in Web 2.0 environmentsA deep discussion of the meaning of an avatar in the whole Web 2.0 context. I don’t understand it totally, but author seems like the kind of person that would make a great expert witness in the first big “Avatar theft” lawsuit that comes down the pike

And lastly, a couple of older (but still magnificent) entries on SSRN – very deep, and willing to make guesses about future legal decisions.

Playing in the Virtual Arena: Avatars, Publicity and Identity Reconceptualized through Virtual Worlds and Computer Games, Jon M. Garon, available here.

Trademark Law and the Social Construction of Trust: Creating the Legal Framework for Online Identity, Beth Simone Noveck, available here.

Leading Avatar Sites

jaymoffitt — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:55:18 +0000

And their terms of service listed below, as well as a cut-and-paste of their jurisdictional information.

(People ask me all the time what my blog is about; when you find out, tell me in the comments?!)
Today’s post, however, is strictly informational. The full URLs are for your reference.

http://www.daz3d.com/sections/aboutus/eula/EULA_Content.pdf

DAZ3D
b. Governing Law, Jurisdiction, and Venue. This Agreement is governed by the laws of the
State of Utah. Jurisdiction and venue for the enforcement of this Agreement shall be found
exclusively in the courts within Utah County, State of Utah.

http://www.gizmoz.com/newsite/presite/terms.jsp?partner=studio

GIZMOZ
These Terms of Use, the Privacy Policy and the relationship between You and Gizmoz shall be
governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, USA,
excluding its conflicts of law rules.

http://www.imvu.com/catalog/web_info.php?section=Info&topic=terms_of_service

IMVU
These Terms and Conditions of Sale will be governed and interpreted pursuant to the laws
of the State of California, United States of America, for contracts to be executed and fully
performed therein and notwithstanding any principles of conflicts of law.

http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html

Yahoo Avatar maker
You and Yahoo! each agree that the TOS and the relationship between the parties shall
be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions

And a couple of newer ones:

http://www.evolver.com/account/termsandconditions.aspx

EVOLVER
This Agreement and your use of the Site is governed by, construed and enforced in
accordance with the internal substantive laws of the State of California.

http://www.frenzoo.com/beta/information.php?chapter=tos

Frenzoo
Frenzoo Limited, a Hong Kong registered company and the owner of www.frenzoo.com hereby authorises you to use, view and download this Web Site and animations, information, names, images, logos and icons (“Materials”) at this web site for non-commercial purposes only.

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I hope you can use or at least reference these Terms of Service in your choice of an avatar. Remember, except for copyright, right of publicity, “bad light cases”, plagiarism, and other concerns, why should you worry about your avatar? In my opinion, you should either have one designed (and pay for it) or you should compose one on your own and take the correct steps to copyright it. Failing that, read these agreements carefully before you click “Yes” in the box.