Consent for Snapshots and Machinima Act
Preamble
Linden Lab (LL), due to a recent change of the Terms of Service, now requires explicit agreement by landowners for third parties to make machinimas in their land. Snapshots are still allowed by the default. LL also introduced a new way to inform Second Life residents if making machinimas and taking snapshots is allowed or not, by requiring information to be publicly displayed on Covenants.
In order to promote the Confederation of Democratic Simulators by allowing everybody to freely capture images and videos of the exteriors of the buildings and to comply with Linden Lab's new Terms of Services, the Representative Assembly thus proclaims:
For the purposes of this bill, and to be consistent with Linden Lab's own terms and definitions, "machinima" means a film or computer animation generated using the real-time three-dimensional graphics-rendering engine of Second Life, and "to capture machinima" means to film or record machinima. Similarly, "snapshot" means a screen capture, image capture, or photograph of the three-dimensional virtual world environment of Second Life, and "taking a snapshot" means to photograph or capture a snapshot.
Also, for the purposes of this bill, "interiors" shall be considered all structures which have doors, sliders, windows, or similar architectural features on their façades, that allow a separation of an "interior space" and an "exterior space", even if such doors, sliders, or windows are kept open, or if avatars (or their cameras) are actually allowed to enter such structures by whatever means, or even if such features are actually transparent (totally or partially) and/or unobstructed by curtains or similar devices. The exceptions are skyboxes (or underground caves), which, no matter what their architecture looks like, are always considered "interiors". All other structures are considered "exteriors".
Private buildings and structures that are open-space, in total or partially, or which have wide open walls to public structures (i.e. roads, plazas, public gardens), are also considered "exterior" for the purposes of this law. Walled private gardens or pateos, if the walls are high enough (more than twice the avatar size), are considered "interiors".
Capturing machinima and taking snapshots of all the exterior buildings and areas throughout the Confederation of Democratic Simulators is hereby allowed, for all parcels (public and private), except for private buildings on skyboxes (or underground caves).
Capturing machinima and taking snapshots of the interiors of all public buildings of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators (owned by Government) is also allowed.
Capturing machinima and taking snapshots that include the avatars of citizens of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, or visitors to the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, requires their explicit permission, so long as they are clearly recognizable. If they are in the background and/or part of a crowd, the same permissions as the Linden Lab Terms of Service apply.
The previous point does not apply in the case of a publicly announced event (either public or privately held), such as parties, balls, gatherings, meetings, rallies, exhibitions, or other activities where citizens and visitors come to the same location. In such publicly announced events, permission is granted implicitly to make machinimas or to take snapshots of all avatars and architectural features at the location of the event, even if such event is held indoors or on a skybox, either on private or public land. Privately held events that are not publicly announced are excluded from this point.
Each and every citizen is allowed to restrict or to allow capturing machinima and taking snapshots of the interiors, skyboxes, or other non-public areas of their own parcels. By default, all such areas are off-limits to machinima capture and taking snapshots, except as otherwise noted by a notice on the "About Land" tab of that parcel.
Dissemination of such snapshots and machinima, through whatever means, is hereby granted in perpetuity, unencumbered by any restrictions, fees, royalties, or any other requirements, although mentioning the location of the snapshot is encouraged.
The Executive Branch is hereby notified to add the text of points 4, 5 and 6 to all Covenants, published in all official media, and on the Covenant tab of all regions of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, with a link to this bill.
Similarly, on the official media, a list of all public (Government-owned) buildings shall be kept up to date, and on the parcels where such buildings are located, the "About Land" tab shall bear the notice: "This parcel is public Government-owned land" or words to that effect.
Roads, parks, bridges, and similar open-space, non-architectural features on public land do not require similar notices and are assumed to fall under the provisions of point 2 regarding exteriors.
since it's not urgent, but nevertheless important as a matter of principle.
