Okay. So at some point in this morning's blog-reading bonanza, someone linked to James Grimmelmann's fantastic piece on the State of Play conference, and the Second Life decision to give its players IP control over what they've created for the game. James took some time on this article, and it's a very, very clear explanation of the thorny issues involving real life law, game regulations, and creative work. Oh yes, and he makes the important point that one of the primary value of games for players is that...give it time...they're fun. And that a lot of intellectual questions about the value of EULAs and game administration need to come from that.
We've seen three critically important "legal" issues that arise in connection with online multiplayer games and other virtual worlds:
* Who owns (or should own) intellectual property created in virtual worlds?
* Who has (or should have) power over in-game property in virtual worlds?
* When will (or should) real-life law intervene in virtual worlds?
Then go read my other favorite post by James, which is about privacy spills.
Since I namecheck LawMeme, you'd think I read it frequently enough to catch this stuff without being reminded to go look at it.
[Addendum. It's via many2many. Thanks, Clay.]
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