[MUD-Dev] Second Life's customers get [copyright?] of their creations

[Joshua Judson Rosen]

On Fri, Nov 21, 2003 at 02:29:40AM -0500, Amanda Walker wrote:
> On Nov 20, 2003, at 11:00 AM, Crosbie Fitch wrote:

>> I wonder if recognising a player's copyright (right to control
>> reproduction) then grants them a right to a copy of their work?

> I do not think this follows.

> Writing a book, for example, doesn't mean the publisher has to
> give you a printing press or a copy machine.  A right and an
> actual ability are two different things.  Granting to a player the
> right to reproduce their creation doesn't obligate Linden to
> provide some means for them to do so, it just means that no one
> can legally *prevent* them from doing so if they find a way to do
> it.

Your response is a non sequitur, because copyright is *not* the
right to copy, but the right to restrict or allow others' copying;
`granting the player the right to reproduce' is granting the player
*license*, not copyright. The two are very different.

The conclusion that you'd reach by considering copyright might be
very similar, but the reasoning by which you can actually get there
is completely different.

Copyright is an agreement between the copyright-holder and the
government granting the copyright (and, initially, no one else). You
might just ask who in this situation ought to bear the
responsibility of maintaining archival copies, and how would we get
`the Second Life employees' as an answer?  Where do they even enter
into the matter?

--
"I'd like to live in Theory,
 it sounds like a nice place!" --Robin Dunn
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