The Secret

Have you ever had the experience of logging in to Second Life to find your favorite item replaced by a prim called IPReplacement?  We have, because we made the mistake of buying mesh from someone who was selling it illegally, and got a DMCA filed on them. This blog will explain why it happened, who is promoting it, and what you can do avoid it.

Recently, a particularly interesting link was posted in this 47 page SL Universe thread about ripped mesh, which makes it crystal clear that some of the most-blogged "creators" are actually thieves who make nothing themselves but just make money off other people's work -- and sell it to unsuspecting customers who lose out in the end. 

This is what the link shows: someone went through the store We’re Closed’s listings and posted pictures of their products, alongside pictures of the original 3d models sold on various 3D model websites, by various 3D artists — on Pinterest. You can see the page here – it is appropriately enough called Interesting Things.

Chair Sold By We're Closed

Exact same chair, resale prohibited

Predictably, after the link to the Pinterest page was posted, those products disappeared from the marketplace but not the inworld store. But many others are left. This is what the Pinterest author says:

Since we’re closed has no shame and only removes items as they are outed, the rest of their items have been reported directly to the original creators to deal with as they see fit. 

Since then, content from other stores has appeared on the Pinterest page  – Le Bistro, for example, who was ejected from the Food Fair for having stolen content, yet does not remove the content from their store.   Look’s didn’t even bother to make his own product pictures.  

Mesh sold by Le Bistro

Exact same mesh, resale prohibited

But that’s not all — as soon as the Pinterest page attracted attention, a lot of other stores took down a lot of content from their marketplace and inworld stores. The Pinterest author says:

Sadly there are many more prominent ‘creators’ who are ‘borrowing’ 3d content, in full, and in parts. You know who you are, some have already cleaned house the past few weeks, others are encouraged to do so in the next few weeks. I will be back.

Unlike when content is stolen from other SL creators, when a DMCA from outside SL is filed, LL deletes the stolen content from the inventories (and land) of those who bought it. So not only do the thieves have an unfair advantage over legitimate creators, but the are ripping off their customers as fast as they can get things uploaded.  

The examples shown in the SL Universe thread are the tip of the iceberg. Second Life is being flooded with ripped content. Legitimate creators, who painstakingly make their own content, are at a severe competitive disadvantage. The thieves can upload dozens of stolen items in the time it takes a real creator to make one. Since everyone can upload the same stolen models, the future of SL may be all about the same User Uploaded Content being seen everywhere, sold by different thieves, and the extinguishing of original content except by those who can afford to create as a hobby. 

The SL Universe thread is the only place we know where anyone shows any interest in the problem. We see stolen merchandise artfully and enthusiastically blogged, but who is blogging about the steady and growing erosion of User Generated Content?  Who is calling the thieves out, as they deserve to be?  Not bloggers -- they are still blogging We're Closed content!

In upcoming posts:  How to protect yourself from buying stolen merchandise by knowing the signs that a seller is not a creator, and how it is that often it is the thieves whose stores get promoted by bloggers.

The more eyes on the problem, the better. If you come across evidence of stolen models, send it to us at SecretsOfSecondLife@gmail.com. 

So why is the problem different/worse than before mesh?

In the past, thieves could use illegal viewers to take copies of prims and sculpts in Second Life and resell them. But outside of SL, these things did not exist.

For mesh, however, there are countless sites selling professionally made 3D models for use in games, movies, architectural scenes, advertising, etc.  Many of these sites are hosting stolen models they illegally allow to be downloaded.

So some "creators" in Second Life, instead of going to the trouble of making their own mesh, simply fill their shopping baskets up with ready-made professional quality models they either bought or found for free. But free does not mean "free to resell".  Although in SL we have full perm creators who sell to others with the understanding that the buyers will make something of the models and resell them, this is NOT the case with models on sites external sites -- they are not selling "templates" for resell, as many in SL do. A few model licenses do allow for reselling, but these are very few. These models are to be used in games, for example, but not to be resold individually as they are in Second Life.

Turbosquid, one of the best known 3D model sites, specifically mentions Second Life:

I want to buy a product from TurboSquid and use it in a virtual world community, like Second Life. Is that allowed?TurboSquid 3D models, conversions, and any altered or unaltered part of a TurboSquid 3D model, may NOT be imported, uploaded, reproduced, made available, transmitted, distributed, or sublicensed in Second Life or other virtual world communities. We prohibit any inclusion of TurboSquid material in any software that imports open 3D file formats (e.g., Second Life, 3D modeling software, etc.), and while we respect the Second Life and similar communities, our artist community does not believe the IP protections for their work are sufficient for these uses.

Some thieves think they are safe because they modify the illegally downloaded models, or create something from parts from different models.  But Turbosquid makes it clear that not only is this illegal, but even using a model as a "template" is:

 If I buy a model to use as a template (a reference to guide the placement of my polygons and curves) for another model I am going to build from scratch, how can I use the new model? Can I sell the new model I make on TurboSquid?Using models purchased or downloaded from TurboSquid as templates is very common. You are welcome to do this and can use the new model that you made or derived from a model on TurboSquid in any way that you would use a purchased model. You will not, however, be able to resell the new model. By using the first model as a template for the creation of a new model, the new model automatically is a derivative of the purchased model. Derivatives of models may not be sold on TurboSquid or used in any manner inconsistent with the TurboSquid End User License Agreement.

The more eyes on the problem, the better. If you come across evidence of stolen models, send it to us at SecretsOfSecondLife@gmail.com.

Spotting Ripped Mesh -- Part I

It is not always possible to spot ripped mesh but there are some clues.  Below is a post in the huge SL Universe thread about ripped meshes, and gives an overview of how to analyze the overall characteristics of a marketplace mesh store.  

I would like to add that many of those well known merchants selling ripped mesh, were not so long ago selling mostly things made from sculpt kits, because they did not have the sculpting skills. When mesh is introduced, they suddenly are turning out all this professional quality mesh. Except what they are doing is not making it but uploading it.

I've been a mesh creator at a hobbyist level for years now - I'm still learning the craft in its myriad forms (and enjoying its many challenges). To create meshes of the high quality that the rippers are throwing onto the Marketplace or selling inworld require many hours / days / weeks to produce, depending on the level of complexity of the items.
A basic low-poly T-pose game-quality mesh would probably be created in a matter of hours by a professional game artist working in the industry (texturing with diffuse/normal/specular maps to a game asset level would also add to the timeframe required).

Something like a highly detailed, render ready (ie: NOT game asset) model of a vehicle would probably require days of work for a professional; for a hobbyist like myself it would take weeks of work depending on skill level. The UV-mapping work alone (the technique where 3D shapes are broken down into 2D flat shapes in maps to allow for texturing) would be a huge task in itself.

Basically, to create high quality meshes requires WORK - lots of it - which is something that rippers are far too lazy to bother with. They steal these meshes from various sources, and sell them for stupidly low prices (L$100 to L$250 seems to be the average, full perms). Most artists who actually CREATE meshes from scratch at this level of quality sell their items in SL at a much more realistic price for their time invested. Generally, mesh creators looking for a real-world income would probably be better off selling on a semi-professional level elsewhere at 3D brokerage sites (Renderosity, DAZ3D, Turbosquid etc) where they have a far better chance of getting a decent return on their work.
There are a handful of reasonable quality template clothing sellers on the MP selling their work for around $L250 full perms, but frankly they are throwing their hard work away for peanuts.

When you see a ripper's store with page after page after page of suspect meshes, there is no way they could be creating these themselves from scratch - not without working 24-7 (or having a bunch of third-world mesh creators locked in a factory working for them LOL).
Another pretty obvious giveaway is how well (or NOT) these ripped meshes work inworld. Either they have a stupidly high LI cost (usually nothing like their stated "1-prim" or similar on their product listing) and will lag the hell out of your viewer, or DO have a low LI cost, but rapidly break up into random triangle vomit as you cam away from them - usually as soon as their first LOD (level of detail) mesh kicks in.

These LODs are generally a useful way of helping to confirm if something is fishy. Genuine SL mesh creators - or rather, those who are committed to proper quality - will work hard at creating lower detail LOD meshes - which are designed to kick in at various camera distances. When done properly, these LOD meshes help to maintain a decent, recognisable shape at all distances whilst keeping LI costs down and being realtime render friendly. These LOD meshes are uploaded WITH the original main mesh in the upload process.

So yah, it just makes my blood boil when I see these rippers stealing other people's hard work. Many times it's the work of hard working hobbyists which is stolen (not just the big game companies) - which is heartbreaking for those involved, considering the time and love put into their projects. Not to mention the innocent buyers who unknowingly purchase full perms meshes from these rippers on the MP, and use them in good faith in their own products - potentially getting themselves and their customers burned by these rippers' thievery when/if the original stolen content is suddenly removed by LL.