Just over a year ago I blogged : Could Linden Lab Follow Amazon’s Lead In Fan Based Creativity? This was based on Amazon’s Kindle Worlds deal whereby they had struck deals for people to be able to write, publish and sell fan fiction via Amazon.
A year is a long time for my memory these days, but I was reminded of this issue when I read a press release from Linden Lab relating to Blocksworld. The press release though does not appear on the Linden Lab website, it comes courtesy of Gamasutra and carries a headline of Blocksworld Adds MY LITTLE PONY Sets. Part of the press release states :
The new sets are the result of a licensing relationship with Hasbro, Inc., through which Linden Lab also recently added TRANSFORMERS characters to Blocksworld.
So apparently, Linden Lab have negotiated a deal with Hasbro for this content to exist in Blocksworld. Now of course Blocksworld is very different to Second Life and the content is more strictly managed. However Linden Lab may be able to agree terms to sell content from a Linden Lab store, whereby approved creators submit content. They may even require sim owners to apply to be able to place and buy said content. In short, they may be able to take a leaf out of their skill gaming policy and have approved creators and users of said licensed content.
However the last thing a roleplay sim needs is an increased tier fee, so it’s not straight forward, on the other hand, it should be feasible in some form for Linden Lab to find a way to allow users to make and use licensed content within Second Life.
Intellectual property rights are a huge can of worms and require careful consideration from all parties. Any such deal within Second Life may well require creators to share revenue with the owners of the intellectual property, in other words there may be a higher commission fee.
There has been more than one incident whereby Second Life users have ran foul of intellectual property rights. Back in 2009 Tateru Nino reported on Massively : Infringers of Dune: Dune role-players shut down by Herbert Estate. Spice keeps flowing. Last year New World Notes reported : Attack on Titan Fan Game in Second Life Attacked by Attack on Titan Publisher? Intellectual property rights need to be respected and preserved.
However as the Amazon Kindle Worlds and Blocksworlds deals show, there are ways and means of coming to licensing agreements with the owners of intellectual property. Whether Second Life’s, often unfairly, tarnished reputation puts it completely out of the picture I don’t know. However fan based creativity can be good for franchises, it can help to extends its reach and it can be a satisfying experience if managed carefully and properly for all parties.
As virtual worlds grow, these deals will be made in some form or another. There’s scope here for Linden Lab to get in early.
Obviously many people prefer Second Life to create new content, new themes, new adventures and that’s all very possible, but a tie in with an existing brand can also be good all round too.
Does that mean that LL now has the right to use My Little Pony for any purpose, in all formats?
After all, LL has insisted this is absolutely necessary, and the rights owners will just have to trust LL.
Haha yes fair point, they do indeed recognise the importance of limitations when it comes to certain content.
If you made a shoe, LL would charge you for making it, then take it from you and sell it back to you at twice the price.
Now THAT’S what I call Capitalism baby!
Haha it’s not quite that bad, but I take your point.