The Price of Fame Is $195 L

I just found out I'm a SLebrity.  Wow!  At least I am in the eyes of a possible shape copybotter who has a Marketplace store of more than 90 "No Mod shape(s) made to resemble a famous SLebrity!"  I dunno.  Maybe she made the 90 shapes of Second Life residents, maybe she botted them.  I do know she (or he, who knows) didn't ask to use my name to sell a shape that looks like mine.  I created both in 2007 and have made only minor changes to my shape over the years.

I looked over the Terms of Service for Marketplace to see if I had grounds to flag her listing.  Not easily from the looks of it.  I can't prove she didn't do a damn fine guessing job of simply copying my digits.  Is my name intellectual property?  I'm not sure.  Terms of Service doesn't allow the use of real life celebrity or brand names to sell a product, but it is silent on the use of names of Second Life residents, famous or otherwise.

I had a small vain identity crisis over the whole thing.  I decided it wasn't my shape being available for purchase that bothered me so much.  If someone liked my shape and did the painstaking work of recreating it - well - imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, yes?  Even when it's a little stalkerish and creepy.  It's not like my friends are going to see a "twin" and mistake her for me. What continues to bother me is the blatant use of my name.  It's not a mistake.  The shape looks like mine and there's not another Dolly Baroque in Second Life.

I don't usually rant.  It's not like I make income from my shape.  A lot worse has happened to Second Life creators.  I'm just frustrated, and not even the humorous thought of someone considering me to be famous is soothing me right now.  I'll get over it and go back to being lighthearted Dolly, making fun of Ayla's fugly new "shopping shape" that she made to prevent her own shape from being copybotted. 

Credits:

Deco - Aviator Sunglasses
Fri.day - Darby - Natural Ginger
Maxi Gossamer - Necklace - Erzulie's Love Charm (at Collabor88)
Slink Mesh Hands
Tulip Cotton Tank (Sky)

Mon Tissu Cotton Pants ~ Khaki
Dolly Baroque's Shape (not for sale)
Glam Affair - Amberly - America 09 Red

Stardom Pose by Del May