So..
You know how most stuff in Second Life business goes over our heads because we’re not really IN business?
Funny how that’s such an incorrect assumption.
I was reading the Fresh Baked Goods blog about a week or so ago (http://slfreshbakedgoods.blogspot.com/) and the creator was being sued for copyright infringement, etc. While I’ve shopped there before, I made a mental note to keep away until things were cleared up. So, as with many things, I just kind of put it to the back of my mind and continued about my business.
In my wanderings for great designers to showcase at the Wild Jungle Beach Club, I have had the amazing pleasure of working with so many talented creators.
And while I’m aware of content theft in SL, I never really stopped to think that..running a fashion showcase could and would open me up to creators accused of content theft. I wasn’t doing any type of due diligence on them – I worked under the assumption that..if a store was big, beautiful and well known..then surely it must be reputable.
Okay, it was a stupid assumption, I know.
I ran into a creator today that I’ve been trying to get into the showcase. And when I mentioned another creator that would be involved there was a strange response. She asked me if I knew of their reputation. Beyond the beautiful clothes, I did not. So while I questioned her about it, I also opened up two other IM boxes and began tapping two good creator friends for info.
Sadly, I got the same response from them all.
The accusations stemmed from several extremely reputable creators who provided various works for proof. It appeared awefully damning to me. All seven different websites/blogs provided to me.
So I stepped back and asked myself..if this were RL, could I do business with someone that even remotely struck me as shady?
And the answer was no.
I have a lot of friends that create, design and build, and I can’t help but think of how unfair it is to have your dreams and visions stolen. I can’t help but think of how much *I* would hate it if someone took my ideas for Blissful Productions and passed them off as their own.
So now I’m in a position of having to do due diligence on creators that I intend on working with because the unreputable ones are out there..still working hard to steal content without any repercussions – and no real warning system for shoppers.
For your reading pleasure, here’s an article I stumbled onto today. It also mentions the issue with Fresh Baked Goods.
http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2008/08/28/what-second-life-can-teach-us-about-content-theft/
XOXO,
B
2 comments:
Great post, Blissie. There is an awful lot of that going on in SL these days. The forums are filled with stories like that. The worst part is that some people are being labelled as content thieves and they may not even be that. There are still a lot of questions over accusations regarding Minnu and others. The SL fashion world is full of cutthroat people. Not only thieves, but people who use their blogs to slander other good creators that they just don't like.
It's much more confusing than I really would hope for. Who is telling the truth? I'm sure that since you talked to three reputable people, that story is correct. Some others are not so clear.
By the way, I'm so proud of you with what you've done on the Showcase. You've really found a niche!! :-)
Aww. :) Thank you.
I'm glad you've attended almost all. *hug*
It's funny..someone asked me what I get out of it; no percentage of sales..no payment for the space..
And I laughed.
"I like to shop!!!"
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