Virtual Property Lawsuit Settles

We reported back in November about a lawsuit by a group of Second Life merchants against Thomas Simon ("Rase Kenzo" in SL) and for making and selling unauthorized copies of the plaintiffs' virtual products (see our previous post).

The parties have now filed a consent judgment to end the lawsuit. The consent judgment, which still has to be approved and entered by the court, contains the following key points:

- The defendant will pay $525 as restitution for profits derived from the "unauthorized copying and distribution of plaintiffs' merchandise".

- The defendant represents, under penalty of perjury, that he acted alone in the unauthorized copying and distribution, that he derived a total of $525 from his activities, and that he has destroyed any remaining copies of the plaintiffs' merchandise in his possession.

- The defendant is permanently prevented from copying, displaying, distributing and selling any of the plaintiffs' merchandise without permission.

- If the defendant uses SL by way of an alternate account, he will tell the plaintiffs the name of that account.

The use of the term "merchandise" in the judgment is interesting, as it suggests that the virtual items in question are actual property. The lawsuit was based on trade-mark and copyright infringement, and the judgment still refers to "unauthorized copying", but the portrayal of the subject matter as "merchandise" rather than some form of copyrighted software could be an important development in virtual property law.

Coverage at Virtually Blind.
Virtually Blind also has a link to the consent judgment here.