Content theft : Uglier than some of the zombies at Zombiefest.
I’m not sure what’s going on here. It seems all content is now vulnerable to theft, and many people know it. Artoo Magneto, creator of Akeyo, has had his animations ripped off, full perms. He’s even set up a site for you to test them out, his versus the stolen ones, in case you can’t believe it for yourself: http://slurl.com/secondlife/TEKKON/80/43/2001
Artoo has filed a support ticket and started the process as all content creators do when they’ve experienced content theft. Problem is, that unlike the more recent cases of content theft, Linden Lab is refusing to assist Artoo in blacklisting the offending animations or getting them taken off the grid without going through “their process” – and we all know how effective that can be.
The animations were ripped several weeks ago, but today it became much worse when someone else created a box of them and sent them out to the Hobo crew – several thousand members strong. CONTENT THEFT STOPS WITH THE CONSUMER, GUYS. Remember that!
Hello.
i am artoo Magneto from germany and came to sl in 2006,
in order to create the island and virtual presence for the mercedes benz car company in sl.
after that job i stayed here and started my own brand “AKEYO”
besides wearables, furniture and art items i mainly create animations for animation overriders and dance.during my time i had to deal with copybot a lot and filed more then 100 dmca complaints
which would be ok for me until a very very bad thing happened.one day someone did make copies of ALL my dance animations,
and spreaded them widely with full permission. (the names and uuids are listed below)
i constantly get told from people about that folder being given around at parties.
yesterday on oktober 09 2009 the folder has even been given as group gift in the hobo group with more then a thousand members.i did set up a place where you can compare and inspect the animations. (originals and copies)
at the following location:http://slurl.com/secondlife/TEKKON/71/44/2000
the originals of the animations can also be seen at my store.
with myself as creator, of course.
i contacted the removal team with the request of blacklisting the uuids from the stolen animations
but they refused to blacklist them.so i could only hope people in sl would be fair enough to keep the animations for themself and dont spread them with fullperms.
but people did not.. its spreading more and more like a snowball effect.
no doubt that it has reached snowlide dimensions allready.thats my case.
thanks for reading.
artoothe COPIES appear with the name “Zack Francois” as creator
and have the following uuids:AK Dance 1Â Â Â Â Â 5b3298e7-cac9-01b4-96b3-68daeea1bf2a
AK Dance 2Â Â Â Â Â 708b0fe4-13d8-0fcd-dcf7-950f8f169779
AK Dance 3Â Â Â Â Â 3158feec-ca59-9cf2-9cb0-9bb29fb0599b
AK Dance 4Â Â Â Â Â 48ae5a91-4c74-2f71-6122-27e327faaec0
AK Dance 5Â Â Â Â Â 266ed243-fbc5-38b5-7977-4638e6263b8f
AK Dance 6Â Â Â Â Â 57540689-ebdd-befd-3dfd-91f5b01cddb3
AK Dance 7Â Â Â Â Â 3a62bab0-bde5-474f-1a87-1b070ef86d5d
AK Dance 8Â Â Â Â Â df7f7757-99a2-e300-c4ac-a3e2fb289caa
AK Dance 9Â Â Â Â Â de7b3d71-2ce3-0889-72b9-861819c3e611
AK Dance 10Â Â Â Â 2f1b72fe-57f4-7fb9-cd1e-1df99678d110
AK Dance 11Â Â Â caa2c4a6-ea57-cc03-9860-14e469bc60c6
AK Dance 12Â Â Â bc8775da-16e0-bd7d-e1c1-8f8cd59618ab
AK Dance 13Â Â Â 893331b4-77d2-60d2-74fb-892ddd4277fe
AK Dance 14Â Â Â 9b4f7ace-ec45-0ad5-8d81-dce42394e53e
AK Dance 15Â Â Â 318df478-88b8-96a2-dd66-03204846cbbb
AK Dance 16Â Â Â 4cc3d58b-8a0b-6ca4-ef64-c192ba7f37f8
AK Dance 17Â Â Â 9146efd1-07c5-6608-4469-4c0c3db59611
AK Dance 18Â Â Â 78b4ab60-0a29-dd93-3e6f-b2cde6a01dedsome ao animations which are also COPIES
appear with the name “mustang Letlow” as creator and show the following uuidsANIM01Â Â Â Â Â 5871af60-a8e7-3c10-fd07-ba7f4a8fcad8
ANIM02Â Â Â Â Â f802f407-1dd1-dd84-c43d-af10c31d79c7
ANIM03Â Â Â Â Â 0f9a3f2e-7ba9-0a58-3b27-18dcf0f28181
ANIM04Â Â Â Â Â f4bbe4bc-737a-4408-5164-c801c63f5a91
Secondary statement:
Statement from artoo Magneto,
regarding a folder with 18 dance animations, often called “AK Dance”these animations who show the creator name “Zack Francois”
and are usualy given around with full permission
are COPYBOTTED versions of my own work. (artoo Magneto / AKEYO)i did put a incredible amount of work, passion and money into the creation,
and the sales hardly covered the expenses i had to create them.AKEYO is not a big rl company – just a one man show.
so if you are given these animations, i would appreciate if you give the info along
and delete the folder – or at least dont spread it on fullperm.the originals of the animations can be seen at my store,
with myself as creator, of course.
thanks for reading.
artoo
I should also point out that earlier this week, a popular skin designer had an in-progress, not-yet-released skin ripped off her very avatar when she had to tp down into her store among the customers to fix a problem. NOT. YET. RELEASED.
Content theft has become so horrible I don’t even have the words.
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It's getting absolutely ridiculous. It was bad before, but lately…
I do not understand why LL won't help Artoo more?
Exactly why doesn't Artoo get the same treatment as the other recent thefts? Either everyone gets the same treatment or everyone goes through the same process otherwise it turns into 'zomg fic'.
@Artoo: I am sorry this happened to you and my words can't do anything to help but I will try my best to make sure if anyone has those to know who the real creator is.
God, that sucks deeply. And what makes me feel so sad, angry and helpless are not these jerks who rip (because these assholes will always be around) but that there is no support from LL. And it’s fully their responsibility.
Anything sent to the viewer can and is taken without permission on a routine basis. People only find out about it when someone sets up a shop to sell the rips or they shoot their mouths off in public.
That said I know someone that has for some time now been trying to steal a script I made. My message to that lamer is to go frikkin learn how to be the simplest of programmers and it might take you all of 10 seconds to figure out what the script you want to steal is doing. Duh.
As far as I have known for a very long time the only thing you can’t steal is no mod scripts. I.e.; The source code is not sent to the viewer unless the script is mod. Supposedly. When LL lets scripts go then SL will be about done for since there will be no further reason to be in business. I suspect that is the master plan for the remaining anti copyright people at LL. But hey scripts are code so don’t be expecting the coders to be letting go of their stuff anytime soon. It is wrong to steal code as you know. But OK to steal anything else.
Poor Artoo, that guy has been so kind to me.
Honestly, I dont even know anymore. Theres nothing anyone can do. Im interested in seeing if that stroker lawsuit helps any but i dont think so.
Everyone can gripe about content theft and say to file DMCA but what does it do when the doors are wide open by LL?? LL does ban people but why when the person just makes a new accoutn and is back in a matter of minutes. Its useless because LL doesnt give a flying fuck about our content.
Sad to write this but I see absolutely no hope. They promise us shit and never deliver it. It was in 2006 when Philip Linden talked about better ways to help content creator and theft, and nothing was ever done, none of his bull shit "promises". Now look what is happening.
The thieves are getting worse and worse every day, here for revenge and threats becauase their RL is so fuckign shitty they come here to try to instill fear and control over people. Unfortunately LL gives us nothing to combat these morons.
Lindens are not helping cause the copybot wich is able to copy animations is selling at SL without any problem. I made an abuse report and now answer, and as far as I know she has four locations to sell it.
Ps
Since LL isnt doing anything maybe we all should start banning people who are gleefully accepting and using all of this stolen content. Maybe then more people will start standing against theft and pay a little more attention to whom they are receiving and purchasing from.
And the bit at the end about unreleased skin getting stolen, Sad to say but that type of thing is OLD news, it has happened to several people already. Yes, their unreleased skin getting ripped and spread around. Old news for quite a few people. Things are out of hand. Not fun in SL anymore
It's not a good plan to turn against each other, starting witch hunts, banning people because of stupid unverified accusations (like Jori kicked Ding off her rented land because some idiot out of revenge accused her of copybotting. Her of all people !!!!!). Like with the 'political correctness' movement we will add another level of fear to SL. "He/She copybotted" is the new stigma to get rid of everybody one doesn't like without any further justification.
The only way to deal with this is to get the Lindens becoming active. We should develop strategies to put pressure on the Lindens not starting to 'rip ourselves appart'.
Oh that is nothing compared to a design prototype image I uploaded and showed to nobody mysteriously being released by a competitor replete with the product texture clearly pixelated from being hacked out of the mockup image. Now how do competitors get your images out of your inventory eh? best not be trusting anyone including the ISP staff that could actually be your competition and have access to all of your designs before you ever release them.
I cant believe Tenshi thought my zombie was ugly
it thought you wanted to pose with me cause i was pretty ;P
And boo about the animations…this is getting out of hand.
Oh no, Hyb. You were pretty. I, however, was hideous.
I don't want to play devil's advocate here.. and I don't want to claim this as untrue…. but… Akeyo….. has had full perm animations across the grid for months, if not years. If you ask most anyone that has Akeyo animations, they'll tell you they have some full perm versions, and they've had em for awhile now. I just looked in my own inventory, and have approximately 15 full perm Akeyo animations. I didn't use a copybot or an exploit or anything… I've just had em. Ive never given em out because I follow a moral and ethical standard. but… is this just a case of Akeyo giving out full perm animations, and then those anims have now spread?
I in no way want to insinuate that this situation is not really happening…. but I think we need proof by knowing if this is happening on ALL animations and not just Akeyo. Akeyo's animations have been in full-perm form across the grid for a LONG TIME. Please, someone let us know if Akeyo is the only instance. … because if it's just Akeyo brand, it's because Akeyo mistakenly has distributed full perm animations out, and not because someone has found a way to exploit.
I've never heard about them until very recently when someone said "Holy shit, someone just gave me a folder of full perm Akeyo dances, wtf" — I'm sure creation dates can back up that this is a recent development.
Akeyo has NOT distributed full perm items?!
If you follow a moral and ethical standard, delete your botted crap and go BUY the animations you use.
The proof was provided in the original post.
He gave PROOF!! Tp to the link and inspect the anims in the pose-stands.
It's one of the most sad places i have ever seen in SL.
And it even proofs that the Lindens give a damn fuck, if not even copy for their own use …
It has happened to other people, a girl in one of my groups had to report stolen ones to Sinewave recently when someone passed her a box of every single dance they have full perm.
its because he didn't want the fact spread throughout the grid that animations can be copied.
I want to amend my comment. I have been talking to Artoo about this issue for a while. His primary concern in not discussing it publicly was to not spread the fact that animations can be copied when in fact they can and have been for some time. We talked yesterday in length about the Rebel Hope incident and how I didn't think it was fair that their copybotted items were blacklisted and he wasnt offered the same treatment. Artoo has hope that if Rebel Hope was helped by LL that maybe he can be and so many others can be as well. LL shouldnt pick and choose who they can help. He was very concerned when he found out his botted animations were passed along in some group with over 1000 members. OH DD this Elizabeth Hallstrom btw.
If I understand what you're saying correctly here: you have 15 Akeyo animations that are full-perm and you've had them for awhile. My first question would be then – did you buy them as full permission from the Akeyo shop (or receive them from artoo Magneto directly)? If not, then where did you get them as full permission and why didn't it make you think they were ripped and that it was okay?
If education about creator content rights is to make any progress then it has to start with people asking "where does this come from?" and there being a straightforward way for them to find out or be informed that it is, in fact, stolen content.
Belochka I am assuming DD got the folder in similar situation as me. I got this from another mutual friend of ours. She was like "hey i got this folder – but I am not sure if this artoos stuff" so I asked her to give it to me. I informed Artoo as soon as I received them and I also let the mutual friend know they were botted because I checked the creator right away. This was months ago actually. We hang together at a lot of electronic clubs and events and his dances are very well known in our circles and used by most club owners. It was probably the same deal with DD. Same clubs, same social groups and there are a lot of content creators in the electronic clubs – items are given away pretty regularly. He probably had no clue they were even botted. If its the same folder as the one I received its labeled "akeyo dances". If he got it while standing around in a club he probably thought he was getting "akeyo dances".
Thanks for giving the details, Lizzie. As a non-club goer in SL (well, not for a long time) I'd forgotten how quickly these things can be passed around a crowd. And kudos to you, and others, that do spot this and let creators know what's happening.
@Doubledown, Akeyo does NOT and did NOT give full perm animations ever.
Artoo Magneto is a friend from real life, I had the chance to witness the making of his dances process. From the day he told me: I want to make natural dances, to the moment he invested his own money in a motion capture studio, the search of dancers to make special moves he took months to develop.
He sent me the beta tests of his dances and the final versions, none ever had full perms.
Also I have an alt who needed a walk and I asked him to sell me one full perm animation. He simply refused, which I totally understand.
What I find unfair here is that:
- Akeyo is not a big company who can recover like that
- LL will not react
- Artoo is the nicest and most generous and passionate person you can meet. He gives many gifts of his creations in his in-world group
So if you find new stores selling motion capture animations, please watch twice before you buy, as not so many brands in SL have the studio. And keep in mind that the original creator made them to make YOU look good when you dance. Think of it when you use that folder
And finally remember that Artoo doesn't even ask you to delete that folder but just to stop spreading it.
OH HEY LADY i just saw your comment. I agree absolutely with everything Morgan is saying. Artoo is one of the kindest people I have met in SL. I have known him for gosh, um since i rezzed almost. He has been generous with me on countless occasions in sharing his products and I have been really bothered by this copybotting since I got the animations. I just dont think its right that LL jumped all over the Rebel Hope issue and kind of gave Artoo the run around about his issue. He is a positive contributor to the culture of SL and a damn fine builder btw LOL.
It's not true that there is nothing we can do. The beginning and the end of content theft is in our hands. We can refuse to buy copied items. We can Abuse Report every person who offers us copied items. Copiers would be a mere irritant if consumers did not go along with them and make their theft profitable. Of course, that means public education about content theft and yes, still some will be fooled because thieves can make stores and look legitimate. But certainly each and every one of us knows better than to accept a box of full perm anything to pass around.
These animations werent in stores. They are being passed around the grid unfortunately.
True in a sense. But remember, LL has their doors wide open. They will ban people but why do they even? Said person normally has an array of alt accounts they log in on moments later, or they go and create a new one. It is as clear as day to me now that LL does NOT care about content creators, they dont. If they did, they would close these gaping wide gaps. They ban people to make us think they care to take some weight off of their shoulders, but they dont give a shit. And while many people, especially those who post there, do stand against content theft, remember we are only a VERY SMALL group of people despite what some of our 'egos' would like to think. There are 60+ thousand people logged in on the grid at any given time, do you think they care? Most dont even know about this. These thieves could really end a brand and LL picks and chooses who they want to help while leaving others to die.
I went to his testing spot and he has an illegal copy of his work crated by a Linden
How do creators stand a chance is Lindens are stealing their stuff? Also the two copiers listed must not be on SL anymore, They don't come up in search.
It probably wasnt a linden who stole it. Though I really wouldnt be surprised.
Keep in mind that as long as an object is mod anyone can change that object into whatever they want and it will keep the original creator name.
Also, with the new client out now you can pretty much change the creator name on anything.
It wasn't a linden who created that. I deleted the folder a long time ago but I know for sure it wasn't a Linden.
So mercedes pulled out of SL? Well they could not have risked people pulling fullpermed copies of promotional items. Toying arround with brand awareness, placing skulllllpties on the bonnet of cars, posing & crising thru sandboxes on their free accounts.
Imagine the possible damage to the brand name.
Duh! Did anybody of the brass at LL thought about how fast a brand can take damage?
By delivering broken products of course … but my point has been more about customer relationship and attitude. Identifying their customers in the first place.
Dropping creators like hot potatoes will not serve them well. Teh Pirates are very reluctant to support land tier or subscription fees, rumor has it.
Just chiming in to respond:
I received some Akeyo dances the same way others did, just randomly at clubs. when someone passes someone a gesture, or animation, or particle burst, or any neat feature to use, no one's first thought is "is this stolen" … we all assume that if it was copy/trans it was legit …. we all also assumed that the world of Second Life would not allow exploits like this…
we were all sadly mistaken.
Personally, I don't need animations, I don't buy them.
Also, I am a reseller of Akeyo stuff (legitimately. I think Akeyo products are great, and I purchased their affiliate vendor pack so I could sell items at my own shop. hats, shoes, accessories.. not animations)
Up until this thread I haven't even thought about it.
… but point being, in the past, I've been handed folders of stuff to use at the clubs. I don't think the giver of the items or the receiver are ever aware these are bootlegged illegal versions. It's not something we think about when you see someone dancing, and you ask if it's a copy/trans, and then they hand it to you.
The main point to this whole debacle is that Linden Lab is not reacting, not keeping to the 'laws of their world they created'
and this is further reason that more people need to join on board on the class action suit against Linden Lab.
Linden Lab is profiting when people sell illegal bootleg goods on xstreetsl. This needs to be stopped. LL is enabling this crime to continue, and they are profiting from it.
….if LL allows a world (second life) where your intellectual property can be stolen, and they are profiting from it… maybe it's time to move onto another platform.
Well said, Doubledown.
Im currently looking for a RL job , and if I can find a good one that matches what I make in SL im out of here.
What about people selling stuff with bootleg trademarks such as the converse star on canvas shoes (yes a 5 pinted star on shoes is the trademark but some go as far as to just change the words and use the entire symbol making it more blatant. Not even the Dallas Cowboys are allowed to sell shoes with the cowboys star on the shoe) or the three parallel stripes on the center sides of athletic shoes Adidas mark? Shouldn't anyone blatantly stealing trademarks get the rear end shafting by the public as well?
Errm… animations have always been rippable, at least in theory. I'm surprised it took someone this long to notice. As Ann Otoole says, the only thing that can't be ripped and uploaded as full perms is scripts.