By: Allen Chein
In June of 2005, a Chinese court in Shanghai delivered a verdict
in a case whose facts might be considered fanciful, if not for the
tragic and violent outcome that had come to pass. Qui
Chengwei was a player in a massively multiplayer online role
playing game (“MMORPG”) called Legend of Mir II. In the
course of his game playing, Qiu and a friend succeeded in a
difficult quest, which rewarded them with a sword—the Dragon
Sabre—a virtual weapon only of use by characters in the computer
generated game world. They subsequently lent the weapon to
Zhu Caoyuan, who, without permission, sold the Dragon Sabre in an
online auction for the equivalent of $870 U.S. Dollars. Qui
ultimately sought out Zhu, the virtual thief; the confrontation
culminated with Qui stabbing Zhu to death in a “real world”
murder.
This paper explores the concept of property in the arena of
MMORPGs generally, and then examines how a United States court
would resolve Qui’s property claim had the events actually
transpired on our shores. Would he be able to establish
rights to the sword and prevail? This article submits that he
would not, though it is by no means a settled question. Given
the popularity of MMORPGs, it is reasonable to conclude that a
dispute involving virtual items is just around the corner.