Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2008
Abstract
Over the past several years, many scholars have wrestled with the idea of how property rights for items created in virtual worlds should be conceptualized. Some have discussed utilitarian models, others have examined a Lockean natural rights theory, and still others view virtual property merely as another form of intellectual property. Regardless of how virtual property is conceptualized and which theory it best fits, most, if not all, commentators agree that the law ought to recognize virtual property as property and vest someone with those rights.
This Article moves beyond the initial debate about how property rights in virtual property should be viewed and asks two new questions from a new perspective. First, who ought to own the property rights in virtual property so that innovation and creativity can be maximized? The question is whether it should be the users who write the code and create the property or the developercompanies that initially create the virtual world and provide access to it. Second, how can the law be modified to remove barriers that unnecessarily impede creation of a regime that maximizes creativity and innovation in virtual worlds?
Recommended Citation
Ryan Vacca,
Viewing Virtual Property Ownership through the Lens of Innovation, 76 Tennessee Law Review 33
(2008).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/facpubs/1308