SecondLife Gets A FirstLife In More Ways Than One: Licensing Parody and eBaying Items

Virtual items, typically banned on eBay, have acquired a SecondLife - eBay is permitting SecondLife items to be sold on their site whereas virtual games such as World of Warcraft still have items banned.

What's the deal? eBay figured out that SecondLife is not a game; it is a virtual world. And heck, you can buy stuff outside of SecondLife already - legally - so why shouldn't eBay cash in? It should be interesting to see whether some things get splashed across eBay.

But wait. There's more. Remember GetAFirstLife.com? They got a legal notice from Linden Lab about use of the logo and so on- apparently permitting use of the logo and so forth:

...We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody – it clearly is. Linden Lab is well known among its customers and in the general business community as a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression. We know parody when we see it.

Moreover, Linden Lab objects to any implication that it would employ lawyers incapable of distinguishing such obvious parody. Indeed, any competent attorney is well aware that the outcome of sending a cease-and-desist letter regarding a parody is only to draw more attention to such parody, and to invite public scorn and ridicule of the humor-impaired legal counsel. Linden Lab is well-known for having strict hiring standards, including a requirement for having a sense of humor, from which our lawyers receive no exception.

In conclusion, your invitation to submit a cease-and-desist letter is hereby rejected.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is possible that your use of the modified eye-in-hand logo for Second Life, even as parody, requires license from Linden Lab, especially with respect to your sale of goods with the parody mark at http://www.cafepress.com/getafirstlife/. Linden Lab hereby grants you a nonexclusive, nontransferable, nonsublicenseable, revocable, limited license to use the modified eye-in-hand logo (as displayed on http://www.getafirstlife.com/ as of January 21, 2007) to identify only your goods and/or services that are sold at http://www.cafepress.com/getafirstlife/. This license may be modified, addended, or revoked at any time by Linden Lab in its sole discretion...

This is funny and this is genius. Traditionally, companies on the internet have attempted to protect their trademark(s) and copyright by 'cease and desist' letters - Linden Lab does so by granting limited license. And in doing that, they may have also taken the sting out of the parody - since the real news now isn't the parody, but that Linden Lab would allow it.

Genius. Now if the Swedish embassy in SecondLife breaks out the Swedish Chef, I'm going to sense a conspiracy...