Second Arts recently posted a comprehensive transcript of a presentation on content creation and intellectual property rights in Second Life by an IP attorney ‘Juris Amat.’

‘Morris Vig,’ who edits Second Arts, offers some thoughtful commentary on the issues raised in the presentation in the introduction:

The issues are profound. The need for Linden Lab to recognize their responsibility to their customer base is undeniable.

So when’s something meaningful going to happen? What needs to happen for Philip Rosedale and his band of Lindens to step up and recognize that they (and they alone) have the tools to ensure Second Life’s primacy for months, if not years, to come?

If you are involved in virtual worlds in any way, these issues should matter to you. The long-term success of any world that follows the unfettered-creation model pioneered by Second Life (a model many of us see as the long-term future of the grid) depends largely on user-created content.

This presentation delivered a good summary of the issues, and provides a good starting point if you are interested in learning more about intellectual property concerns in virtual worlds.

Eros, LLC, a Second Life adult-animation creator, has reached a settlement with Robert Leatherwood of North Richland Hills, Texas, originally known only as Second Life avatar ‘Volkov Catteneo.’

Frank Taney, the attorney for Eros, said, “We’ve reached a settlement. The terms include an agreement that Leatherwood will not do any more copying.” According to Taney, Kevin Alderman (Second Life’s ‘Stroker Serpentine’), who owns Eros, “has proven his point, and is moving on.” Taney said that the settlement will be formalized shortly.

Eros had alleged that Leatherwood sold unauthorized copies of the company’s popular “SexGen” avatar-animation products. A default judgment was entered against Leatherwood by the District Court for the Middle District of Florida last year. Leatherwood originally said he was not ‘Catteneo’ but recently admitted to Reuters that he controlled the ‘Volkov Catteneo’ avatar named in the suit.

See VB’s previous coverage for the background of the suit.

Taney is a partner at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. Besides representing Eros on this suit, he also represented six content creators including Eros in an unrelated suit in New York for similar activity against a different defendant.

I’m a bit behind the news here as I was on the road this week, but Reuters confirmed that the fictitious defendant named in Eros’ copyright and trademark lawsuit last fall was correctly identified in court papers as Robert Leatherwood of North Richland Hills, Texas (see VB’s earlier coverage for details).

The confirmation is hardly a surprise; subpoenas to PayPal, Linden Lab, and two Internet service providers had led to two different computers that Leatherwood was known to use to access Second Life at two different locations. It was pretty unlikely the defendant was anyone else. In spite of this, Leatherwood denied the connection, leaving the case feeling somewhat unresolved. This admission has little legal impact, but does underscore the fact that the pseudoanonymity offered in most virtual worlds is fairly trivial to pierce in the event of a lawsuit.

At the time that Leatherwood was named in the Amended Complaint, VB spoke with plaintiff Eros’ owner Kevin Alderman (Second Life’s ‘Stroker Serpentine’). Alderman said:

I am saddened that Leatherwood doesn’t understand the severity of his actions and the evidence we have against him. Witness statements, Linden Lab account information, and numerous corroborating sources assure us we have our guy. If he continues to deny his guilt we will seek the full damages afforded to us by law, which are considerable. Regardless of his current financial situation, a prevailing judgment will follow him until satisfied. We offered an extremely amicable and affordable settlement, that would have required a fractional monetary compensation.

Leatherwood never responded to the amended complaint. The case ended in a default judgment against Leatherwood by the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

I’m working on a new (non-law-related) book, and I am looking for real stories from virtual worlds.

If you’d like to talk about your virtual world experiences, potentially for publication, shoot me a note, and I’ll set up a time to talk to you. I’m happy to discuss the details of the project once we are in communication.

You’ll be asked to sign an interview release using your real name, but I will identify you in the book only by the name of your avatar, or (depending on the circumstances) using an avatar pseudonym.

I anticipate a lot of stories coming from Second Life, but I am interested in talking to people from across the whole spectrum of social virtual worlds. I’d particularly like to talk to you if you participate in vSide, Kaneva, There.com (or the There.com MTV-based worlds), Active Worlds, EA World, Red Light Center, and any of the current beta offerings (Twinty, HiPiHi, etc.). Basically any non-game-based virtual world. Also, if you’ve got kids, I’d love to talk to you about their experiences with Club Penguin, Webkinz, Barbie World, and various the other virtual worlds for kids.

I’m learning a lot doing this, so if you are interested in telling me your story, I am interested in hearing it. That said, I’d particularly like to talk to:

• Couples and Dating Singles
• Long-Time Virtual World Residents
• New Virtual World Residents
• Subculture Participants
• Fan-Build Participants
• Roleplayers
• Teachers and Professors
• Artists and Musicians
• Adult Entertainers
• Small Businesses Owners
• People Running Governance Projects
• Object Programmers
• Fashion Designers
• Event Planners
• Builders

Depending on the number of responses I get, it may take me a little while to respond, but I promise that I will write back if you send me an email.

Please also feel free to forward a link to this post to anyone who might be interested in talking to me about their experiences, or anyone who you think has a compelling story that should be told.