One of the first places that popped up was a store called The Bag Lady. The description proclaimed this:
BAGS OF STYLE...try before you buy with SL'S only demos of womens ladies handbags hand bags n handbag hand bag briefcase satchel vivienne westwood alexander mcqueen fendi gucci louis vuitton speedy hermes birkin coco chanel n lots more high prim bags +
Immediately, red lights and sirens started going off. Any time a "designer" starts throwing around real world names, you just know it's not going to be good. So I threw on my shoes and headed on over to the store. It was pretty much what I thought it would be.
The last time I noticed, Chanel and Vivienne Westwood did not have outlets in SL.
I looked around for a bit, and then decided to send a note to the store owner, Holly Somerset.
[2009/02/04 17:53] Alicia Chenaux: Hi Holly, I recently stopped by your store and I had a question. Were you able to get the permission from the original designers to use their logos and designs for your store?
Did I get a reply? Nope. Not that I really expected one. What was she supposed to say? "Oh, uh...yeah, I totally talked to the people at Chanel and they said it was cool."
Do I expect anything to happen here? Nah, not really. I mean, it would be nice if someone who is so blatantly using real world designs and logos would be shut down. The purses she had actually displayed were of poor quality and it's doubtful that she truly makes much money off of it, but it still doesn't sit well with me.
And that's my purse story for the day.
7 comments:
That's something I have found to be hypocritical in SL; everyone is so sensitive about content theft - but only if it's SL designers. A goodly amount of content would be gone from SL if all the RL logos and products would be taken out. Either you're against content theft or you're not, it shouldn't make a difference if it's a designer in the real world or a virtual world. Two-faced much?
I'm completely against content theft in SL from SL designers as well. I believe anyone who actually knows me knows that to be a fact considering what happened during the summer when I was quite outspoken about a designer who claimed that it was fine.
I'm sorry, I guess I didn't make myself clear: I didn't mean you, Alicia, with my post. On the contrary, I'm agreeing with you 100%. Wow, talk about a misunderstanding - I'm sorry if it reads like it's an attack on you instead of the people who condone theft from RL designers but get all bent out of shape if it's theft from SL designers.
/me finds rock to crawl under to practice putting in to words what I actually mean
Kinda totally off topic but somehow my brain made this connection when I read your post Ali.
I think the reason I'm uncomfortable in the skins that look too photo realistic is that I'm wearing *someone* and I wonder if it would creep them out to know how their face and hoohah is being used.
This post made me think of something I noticed the other day, as well. A store on a neighbouring piece of land is selling a potted plant, of which the creator is Eric Linden. I was going to IM the seller and ask if that was allowed - to resell items made by Lindens, I thought those were always free? But, what do I know about creating or selling anyway, so I didn't say anything, lol.
And as much as I don't mind seeing RL brands in SL, I have to think if those companies were aware of it, they'd have a problem with it.
There is a shop called Chanel in SL, IIRC - and I doubt they got permission either. Perhaps they have "inspired by..." in teeny tiny print somewhere. [shrugs] That seems to absolve things in some people's eyes.
I had a good laugh at the "1 prim" purses - those must look great...not. LOL
Hmmm I don't even want to start and make a list of copyright infringements in SL *le sigh* Not only in fashion, but also furniture and all the people who play The DJ and not use a proper all rights paid for stream. And I'm not even talking about residents stealing from other residents!
Looking at it from that perspective makes User Generated Content not great at all. But it's still one of the strong points in SL. There are probably some fangirls/boys who did want to own a 1 prim Chanel bag inworld...
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