Copyright Infringement in the Virtual World
Eros, LLC, self-described as "one of the most successful merchants doing business within the virtual world platform known as Second Life, has sued a fellow virtual world citizen John Doe, "a/k/a Volkov Catteneo, a/k/a Aaron Long," in a real world court, claiming violations of the Lanham Act and copyright infringement by the defendant in the virtual world.
According to the complaint, Eros--through the marketing efforts of its chief executive officer, known in Second Life as "Stroker Serpentine"--has made a name for itself within the virtual walls of Second Life by selling adult-themed virtual objects under the "SexGen" mark. Shortly before filing the complaint, Eros filed both an application to register the mark for "scripted animation system utilizing a defined menu to actuate avatars within a virtual world accessed through a 3-dimensional virtual platform," and a copyright registration application for the computer graphics/animation. Eros apparently promotes its products by advertising and conducting "promotional events" within "virtual adult/social themed clubs" in Second Life.
Eros claims that at least as of April 2007, the defendant began making and selling unauthorized copies of Eros's adult-themed virtual objects using the "SexGen" mark, misrepresenting the copies as authorized and legitimate copies created by Eros, which has resulted "in actual consumer confusion regarding the origin of the copies."
You can find a copy of Eros's complaint, filed in the Middle District of Florida, here.
