Ozimals

Ozimals, Inc. is a company owned and operated by Candy Cerveau and Malkavyn Aldritch. It is known for marketing and distributing two breedable pet projects within Second Life and has been linked with Flying Monkeys Interactive in the development of a third breedable pet game outside of Second Life.

Products

Bunnies: The company's breedable bunny product[1] began development in mid 2009. Limited beta-testing occurred later that year and the product was officially released January 9, 2010. The product was marketed as the first breedable product which relies upon real genetic principles as part of its gameplay to produce rare traits.

Pufflings: Pufflings [2]are fictituious, small, and breedable bird pets which can be raised and bred for rare traits.

Success and Controversy:

Ozimals enjoyed significant success in 2010, At its height, claiming to have supported over ten thousand customers.[3]

Notably gaining interest from Linden Research to promote the Second Life platform as a venue for casual gaming, it subsequently sparked criticism on the basis of favouritism. [4],[5]

Marketing based on 'true genetic principles':

Success of the Ozimals Bunny game sparked significant interest within the Second Life community, causing a resurgence in the popularity of breedable pets following previous popularity of products such as Sion Chickens and Petable Turtles. In particular during beta, Ozimals marketed the bunny game as the first true breedable product which relied upon real genetic principles as part of its gameplay. [6]

This marketing claim was criticized by a small portion of testers as not being truly representative of actual genetic behavior in rabbits. In actuality, the mechanics of the game work more along the lines of simplified Punnett Square genetics to calculate the probability of producing desired traits.

Legal problems

Amaretto Ranch Breedables, LLC v. Ozimals, Inc.

On Dec 15, 2010, Amaretto Ranch Breedablesfiled a legal complaint "seeking declaratory relief and damages following Defendant's misrepresentation to Linden Research Inc. that will result in, and most likely has resulted in as of the date of the filing of this complaint, the improper "takedown" of Plaintiff's entire product line within Second Life, thus causing irreparable harm to Plaintiff's business and reputation."[7]

This complaint was filed subsequent to a DMCA notification (sent by Ozimals to Linden Research) and counter-DMCA notification (filed by Amaretto to Linden Research). Ozimals claimed Amaretto's breedable horse product infringed on Ozimals' copyright on the basis that scripts, screen display and gameplay were too similar to Ozimals' product, despite no evidence of patent or copyright registration to that effect.

On Dec 21 2010, a temporary restraining order was granted against Linden Research Incorporated to prevent removal of Amaretto's Horse product line until a ruling could be made on their motion for a preliminary injunction against Ozimals.

The case sparked discussion by members of the legal community outside of Second Life because it posed legal questions regarding the requirement that Linden Research Inc. remove allegedly infringing material as part of its Safe Harbour protection, under US law. [8],[9] , [10], [11] )

On Nov 5 2012, a court document granting in part and denying in part a motion for summary judgement was filed. It revealed settlement results from another legal case which stated that Ozimals Inc. did not completely own the code for the Ozimals Bunny and as such had no basis to file a DMCA claim. In this regard, the court granted in part Amaretto's motion for summary judgement. It further denied Amaretto's search for declaratory relief since, as Ozimals had no basis to sue, Amaretto would not face liability for copyright infringement. [12]

Litigation regarding this case continues as of the date of this writing. [13]

External Links:

http://blog.ozimals.com/2010/12/regarding-lawsuit-against-ozimals-by.html, Ozimals blog post regarding lawsuit against them, Dec 2010.

http://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/3:2010cv05696/235182/, Justia docket filing for Amaretto Ranch Breedables, LLC v. Ozimals, Inc.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/12/16/32638.htm, Courthouse News Service article

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/07/12/38083.htm, Courthouse News Service article