Legal Issues Game Developers Face

Legal Issues Game Developers Face

            Every industry must work within the confines of the law. It should come as no surprise that the video game industry is not immune. Common red flags, i.e. Copyright infringement, using the likeness of others, or 1^st amendment concerns, are volatile problems that can hinder the progress with any studio. Learning how to identify major issues such as these, can aid a company in avoiding legal ramifications in the long run. Three interesting cases that highlight these issues and can be used as great examples are: Tetris v. Xio, Davis/Dupree/Keller/Ferragamo v.Electronic Arts and Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association.
 

 The first case I wanted to point out would be Tetris v. Xio. This case dealt with copyright infringement issues. Tetris Holdings, LLC, own the popular tile matching puzzle game Tetris. They found themselves in a legal battle with Xio Interactive Inc., the creators of Mino, a puzzle game of a similar look and feel. Tetris, LLC accused Xio Inc. of creating a game that appeared strikingly similar to their title. Xio argued that they had only copied the non-protectable elements of the game and should not be held liable to any copyright infringement laws. Unfortunately for Xio, after delving into the games further, it had been discovered that Mino, copied 14 of it’s protected elements to include the size and shape of the games playing field to the composition of the blocks that fell. In the software world, one can only protect the expression of an idea not the idea itself. If Xio would have truly researched this, they could have changed their game enough to avoid this embarrassing ordeal.
 

 My next example is Davis/Dupree/Keller/Ferragamo (Plaintiffs) v. Electronic Arts (EA) (Defendant). The plaintiffs accused the defendant of using their likeness in the football-simulated video game “Madden NFL”. The game affords players the chance to simulate a virtual football game using avatars of professional football players. EA creates the Madden series every year and has made deals with the National Football League to use the likeness of the players. In this scenario EA had recreated a number of historic teams. Upon doing so, they did not obtain the rights to use the likeness of the historic players. The plaintiffs felt that they should have been compensated and asked if their likeness could have been used. EA argued that using the player’s attributes fell within their First Amendment rights, but was overruled due to a legal precedent (NCAA v. EA). It boils down to the fact that, if you’re planning to create a game with a character that uncannily resembles a brand of any form, you need to obtain the rights to use it or alter your character completely.  

 Lastly, the case of Governor Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association is equally entertaining as it is educational. Governor Schwarzenegger passed a civil code in 2005 that regulated the sale of violent video games to minors. The State of California believed that these violent video games had a direct link to violence in children, both physically and psychologically and sought to ban them. The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) quickly sprang into action and sued the state for violating the 1^st and 14^th amendments. The Association asked for a Declaratory Judgment (a judgment from the court defining the legal relationship between the parties and their rights as defined by Cornell Universities’, Wex Legal Information Institute) to determine if the State truly violated the first amendment. EMA also felt that the law would be a catalyst for the government to restrict our freedom of speech and affected parental authority. Games are currently regulated through the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), so the need for the ban of the games was unnecessary. Ultimately, the court ruled in favor of the Entertainment Merchants Association. The lesson here would be to watch how, what you create, may offend people and if you are truly within your right to create it or not. 

 Having a lawyer is integral to any business, although nothing prevents you from doing the due diligence of learning what can be a hindrance to your company. These lessons will serve well in creating Digital Ecstasy Games, our game studio. Through these cases I can be proactive and save the studio from hardships both legally and financially.