Get a First Life
January 22nd, 2007 by Benjamin Duranske
Virtually Blind Commentary
My wife (who somehow gets along just fine without an avatar) would tell you that it was bound to happen. Somebody put together a dead-on parody of the Second Life home page advertising your “First Life.” (You know, the one where you eat stuff and can’t fly).
The Supreme Court has said that parody “is the use of some elements of a prior author’s composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author’s works.”
Since the author is “commenting,” the theory goes, there is a policy justification for the use of the older work. See Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.
As the page is a parody, it would likely be considered “fair use” if Linden Lab tried to make an issue of it. So the author’s suggestion that the link to his blog be used for “comments and cease and desist letters” is best taken with a grain of salt.
Credit where credit is due, the parody is pretty nice work by Darren Barefoot, who also brought us “The Con of Mac.”
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