Late last year, Grossman Tucker Perreault & Pfleger announced that they had successfully registered as a trademark the multidimensional likeness of Aimee Weber, the Second Life avatar of New York content-creator and businesswoman Alyssa LaRoche. While GTP&P referred to it as a groundbreaking decision (it is -- groundbreaking is another word for 'first'), it is not … [Read more...] about The trademarking of an avatar
Law and virtual worlds
Who’s your Daddy?
US Congressman Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) would like to be your parent. At least, he would like to act as though he was your parent. Starting back in May 2008, Kirk has been singling out Second Life for special attention: he would like legislation to be introduced that prevents children from accessing Second Life- both the Teen Grid and the Main Grid (he makes no distinction), … [Read more...] about Who’s your Daddy?
Patents and virtual world commerce
Terra Nova has a fascinating article on patents and virtual world economies. Our recent interview with Dr Melissa de Zwart from Monash University shone some light on this very grey area - there's still so much legal precedent still to be established. … [Read more...] about Patents and virtual world commerce
Discussion paper on virtual property rights
Virtually Blind has an interesting article featuring a discussion paper on virtual property rights. The paper is written by a Columbia Law School graduatem, Daniel Gould and you can read it here. It covers the challenges in defining virtual property and the part that stood out for me was: bits in memory do not, by themselves, possess the qualities of real world property … [Read more...] about Discussion paper on virtual property rights
Law and regulation of virtual worlds seminar
Melbourne keeps on churning out interesting virtual worlds events. This time it's a seminar titled "Law and Regulation of Virtual Worlds". The details: Wednesday 25 June 2008, 4 – 6.30 pm Monash Centre for Regulatory Studies Monash University Law Chambers 472 Bourke Street Melbourne Key Speakers Gary Hayes, Director LAMP @ AFTRS and Head of Virtual World … [Read more...] about Law and regulation of virtual worlds seminar