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| Louise Kristan-Fauls 'Wowmeh Body'. By Serenity Kristan-Faulds. |
While reading 'Hamlet Au's' fantastic Blog, 'New World Notes' I read an article on the present 'Wowmeh' situation. I felt it would be of interest to Pornstars Group members. Please visit Hamlet's Blog 'Right Here' to see the original article and read the insightful comments left by his Blog readers.
The Wowmeh body became an over night huge hit on our porn scene with our members. It also saw several designers within our Porn groups begin producing some awesome outfits and accessories for it too. They have also been left frustrated by events.
Thankfully, It looks very much like Wowmeh is on the way back very soon, but if you're wondering "What the hell went on!?" reading below should clear it all up......
If you're not a designer in Second Life, it's hard to imagine the feeling of being completely at the mercy of an anonymous stranger willing to claim your work as their own. It's a story we've heard many times over, usually when it comes to content theft: All your hard work swiped and resold under a string of alts. It's a nightmare for many creators and a constant reality for many more.
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| Me...Loving my 'Wowmeh'. |
But there's a flip side to this familiar problem, which one designer has brought to light in a recent blog post in the wake of the removal of her most popular product.
The WowMeh mesh body experienced a flash of popularity. It seemed like a well-made answer to many Second Life fashion enthusiasts' issues with the default body. It was fitted mesh, allowing for a broader range of body shapes than some of the competition at the time, while wearers could additionally coordinate their other mesh enhancements with it. But as suddenly as it appeared, WowMeh was gone. Removed from the grid due to a DMCA claim filed against creators Baby Ghosn and Bit McMillan.
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| Kirsten Smith. Gave many Pornstars their first looks at Wowmeh. |
The "easy" answer to this would be to file a counter-claim, the typical course of action when you believe your work has been removed in error. That counter-claim also delivers your real-life details (or the details of your lawyer if you can afford to file through one) to the original claimant in case they want to pursue further legal action. As Baby points out in her blog post, however, it's not unheard of for people to use DMCA claims to grief/disrupt businesses, and handing over your personal information essentially gift-wrapped to someone who seems to mean you harm isn't an attractive prospect. That's why Baby says she won't be disputing the claims, and will instead be releasing a revised version of the WowMeh mesh body instead.
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| Vixeee poses with her Wowmeh body in our 'Pornstars Page 3' feature. |
Of course I can't speak to whether the DMCA claim filed against WowMeh was justified or not. It's always possible that it was, but we just don't know. What we do know, by the admission of the creator, is that the Wowmeh body was created using the standard Second Life body, purchased components, and the designer's own work, and that they'll be removing much of those third-party pieces from their upcoming WowMeh release.
On the one hand it's important that DMCA claims are acted upon and taken seriously in the many cases where content has truly been stolen/used without proper permission. On the other, it's hard not to sympathize with designers who've had this very important tool turned against them. In those cases, it's just another kind of content theft.
Article by Hamlet Au. Images From 'The Pornstars'.
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| Erika Thorkveld. Supporting Wowmeh. |
