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Intellectual Property Law

: Video Game Law Blog

"Kölner Dom" in Second Life: Copyright Infringement?

By Chris Bennett, Tudor Carsten, Michael R. Coburn, Sarah Dale-Harris, Pablo Guzman, Danielle (Dani) Lemon, Chris Metcalfe and David Spratley

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To the inhabitants of Cologne, their "Dom" is very dear and legend says that tourists calling the building "Cathedral" have found themselves thrown into the Rhine. So the judges of the District Court of Cologne will have been very pleased that they have not just rendered what is probably the first German judgement on copyright of Second Life architecture, but that this case refers to the great Cologne landmark.

The applicant claimed copyright in certain textures of the virtual "Kölner Dom", which was partly designed by her, and partly designed by the defendant. While the textures were designed to make the virtual building look like the real one, and photos were taken to achieve this aim, the applicant claimed that her work was protected under copyright law, as she had to adapt colors, brightness, and perspective. After a rather long elaboration of the various types of "work" which can be protected under copyright law, the court found that the textures were not suffiently original for copyright protection.

The underlying contracts between the parties have not been part of the dispute, presumably because they were not very clear on the subject.

This article was kindly contributed by Andreas Lober at SCHULTE RIESENKAMPFF in Frankfurt.

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Full post as published by Video Game Law Blog on April 29, 2008 (boomark / email).