Piracy Cultures| Corporate Encouragement of Piracy Cultures: Cultural Borrowing as Standard Practice in Game Spaces

Abstract

Some companies, such as Sony, actively fight the copying of their intellectual property. Yet there are companies, Sony among them, that sell and promote games in which copying is an encouraged norm. Four such spaces are examined here: EverQuest II, LittleBigPlanet, Spore, and Second Life. The four contain copies of, or homages to, cultural intellectual property. Users’ comments regarding the issues around copying were also studied. Users are aware of the copying in these games and feel they should be allowed to remix culture, but they are confused about the legal specifics of copying and homage. Firms take the same approach to copying as users: They do it when they think they can get away with it.