Many blogs and groups are discussing the Step-up campaign today.

As a person involved in making art, and selling it, in real life this is a topic very close to my heart. The Step-up campaign, though admirable in it’s intent, misses its mark somewhat.

Content theft is real in Second Life, it hurts people who make a living creating the products we can’t live our second Lives without. It hurts the innocent consumers who purchase this stolen merchandise.

But there is a lot more than content theft going on in second Life, there is real life theft of artwork, logos, cartoon characters, etc. If it can be downloaded from the internet, it is probably on a product somewhere in Second Life.

My first (known) Second Life experience with real life content theft was a sneaker that was promoted through just about every single Second Life freebie blog. These sneakers were very cute, they were pink, they had sweet little pictures of Minnie Mouse on the sides, and they were from :::LINE:::

Yes, if you own a pair of the Minnie Mouse sneaks I’m talking about, you own a product that illegally uses copyrighted material. This includes products with Hello Kitty, Dr. Suess illustrations, super heroes, Pokemon, strawberry Shortcake, Smurfs, Coke (and any other product) logos, and just about any other cute pop icon you can think of.

If you own tee shirts with band logos, automobile logos, or products that show characters from movies and television.. guess what? You own stolen material.

I’ve seen the work of real life artists (dead and living) used and sold in the shops of well-established designers in Second Life — designers who should know better. I wonder if the Second Life designers who have these pirated artworks in their shops will Step-up and take down their stolen works of art or if they’ll pay the real life artists the royalties they deserve? I wonder if they even realise that they are real life content thieves. And I wonder how many bloggers would stop promoting these designers if they knew the designers use stolen content in their shops and products.

The content that artists make, as real life content creators, doesn’t consist of digital textures or tortured prims, it consists of paint, and ink, and sweat, and canvas, and wood.. and countless other raw materials we use to make our art. We are visual artists, craftspeople, weavers, musicians, potters, poets authors, and we deserve recognition for our art too. We deserve to be compensated if our illustration or painting turns up on a gown in Second Life. We deserve to be compensated if our music is played in your shop. We deserve to be compensated if our painting winds up as fabric used for your Second Life furniture.

Support the arts and Step-up to condemn real life content theft.