Skin Snakes

SLL reports on the stealing and reselling of skins in SL. Oh how I wish I could say this is an open and shut case of right and wrong, but it isn't. SL is a microcosm for the world of intellectual property rights in general.

For example, how many fashion designers get their textures from RL fashion web sites without asking permission or paying a royalty? Does a person like that have the right to say "stop thief" when someone in turn copies their work?

Even if the designer has meticulously hand painted all of their textures, in a digital world it is much too easy to copy other people's work and too hard to enforce the rules.

Does that make it right to steal someone else's work? Clearly not. But if you're going to enter the world of fashion design, go in with your eyes open. If your stuff is any good, someone is going to steal it. So, design your marketing plan accordingly, taking into account that your products will have a limited shelf life before generic versions are created. It's a digital dog eat digital dog world out there.