1. Cerdi International Summer Seminar : Copyright in motion Paris, July 11th 2012 Arnaud LATIL Maître de conférences – Université Paris-Sorbonne sorbonnedroit.wordpress.com

2. 2 The protection of characters : Avatars A comparative perspective : French, EU & US law 19/01/2016

3. 3  What is an avatar ? Online users representation (e.g. Blavatar, gravatar, login/password, etc.).  Where does avatars live ?  virtual worlds  Video games, Social networks, forum, Serious game, etc.  Internet : blog, forum, facebook, etc.  3 characteristics :  Vehicle  Tool  Communication media : ≠ fictional character ?

4. 4 How can Avatars be protected ? 1. The ways to protect avatars 2. The protection of avatars in action

5. 5 1. The ways to protect avatars 3 ways to protect avatars : a.Intellectual Property rights b.Privacy and publicity rights c.Freedom of speech

6. 6 a. IP rights Second Life – ToS: “Real-world laws apply to IP infringement” Trademark / Copyright User-created contented issue : Second Life Art. 7.6 ToS : “Linden Lab owns Intellectual Property Rights in and to the Service, except all User Content”. TOS : SL : art. 7.3. TOS : “User Content License”

7. 7 b. Privacy and publicity rights Video game : Cass. 1re civ., 16 juillet 1998, n°96-15.610, Jean-Marie Le Pen : article 9 code civil. Fake Facebook profile : TGI Paris, 24 novembre 2010, Omar Sy. On-line privacy : LOPPSI 2 (14 mars 2011): art. 226-4-1 Code penal : online identity theft ( 1 year imprisonment / 15 000 € fine).

8. 8 c. Freedom of speech 3 kinds of freedom: The user’s freedom to play or to participate. The freedom of game designer or platform owner. The freedom of both to build and enhance the game space. Freedom of the producer : E.S.S. Entm’t 2000, Inc. v. Rock Star Videos, Inc. 547 F.3d 1095 (9th Cir. 2008)

9. 9 2. The protection of avatars in action Two main challenges: The first balance involves the copyright of the Avatar owner and third party rights, most of the time privacy rights. The second balance involves the freedom of speech and third party rights, most of the time copyrights.

10. 10 a. Non fictional worlds The avatar is not protected by copyright Free speech protection for informative / commercial expressions

11. 11 19/01/2016 b. Fictional worlds “Magic circle” theory (Huizinga) e.g. : SL, WoW Copyright on avatars ? Freedom to criticize fictional characters (Cass. 1re civ., 29 nov. 2005, Légipresse, 2006, n° 228, I, p. 4). Freedom to play CEDH, Lindon, Otchakovsky-Laurens and July v. France, 2007, §55: sufficient factual basis and novel: Generally speaking there is no need to make this distinction when dealing with extracts from a novel. It nevertheless becomes fully pertinent when, as in the present case, the impugned work is not one of pure fiction but introduces real characters or facts.

12. 12 http://sorbonnedroit.wordpress.com Thank you !! 19/01/2016