I don’t know about you but I love parodies. (I am actually going to see Epic Movie.) A few days ago, the blogosphere was buzzin’ ’bout Get a First Life; a parody of the very popular Second Life. (FYI, I first noticed it here.) It is a really funny parody. It is also a victory for common sense.

Now I am not into Second Life at all. I must, however, give Linden Labs kudos for something they did. I wish more companies thought like this. While the blogoshpere was plastered with postings about Get a First Life, I think not as many people noticed this.

At the bottom of the Get a First Life page is a link to send a "Cease and Desist Order" (, a form of prose perfected by the RIAA and MPAA). Linden Labs seems to have posted a comment on the creator’s blog. The author called the comment a "Proceed and Permitted Letter". I hope and pray that is not an impostor. It does not seem to be the case, which is good.

Now the reader must forgive me as digress to some quotes but the letter is classic for several reasons:

First of all, it clearly states that they feel the site is fair use and a parody…

"As you must be aware, the Copyright Act (Title 17, U.S. Code) contains provisions regarding the doctrine of “fair use” of copyrighted materials (Section 107 of the Act). Although lesser known and lesser recognized by trademark owners, the Lanham Act (Title 15, Chapter 22, U.S. Code) protecting trademarks is also limited by a judicial doctrine of fair use of trademarks. Determining whether or not a particular use constitutes fair use typically involves a multi-factor analysis that is often highly complex and frustratingly indeterminate; however a use constituting parody can be a somewhat simpler analysis, even where such parody involves a fairly extensive use of the original work.

"We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody – it clearly is…"

Linden Labs makes a poke at attorneys who would file such letter stating they are "humor-impaired" and states that employing such attorneys is against their company’s standards.

"Linden Lab is well-known for having strict hiring standards, including a requirement for having a sense of humor, from which our lawyers receive no exception."

I will just let them make the next point…

"In conclusion, your invitation to submit a cease-and-desist letter is hereby rejected."

The best thing about the letter is that they give him permission to sell Cafepress "Get a First Life " merchandise with the modified logo on it.

Awesome! Kudos to Linden Labs for living in the 21st Century. Now if we could only take some of that common sense and disperse it to the idiots who want DRM, not to name any names. (Really I Am Actually not going to name any names.) I greatly encourage all of you to go over to Darren Barefoot’s post and read the post and comments, post a comment and maybe even buy some CafePress stuff.

[tags]Second Life, First Life, Opinion, Copyright, Linden Labs, Parody, Humor[/tags]