We see trademarks every day. Ones that we recognize, like Coca-Cola, Apple, Exxon, Pepsi and Ford, and ones that may go unnoticed, like the color of a Tiffany’s blue box. A trademark is a word, phrase, slogan, symbol, design, or combination that (1) identifies the good or service and (2) distinguishes source. Trademarks can (but …
What is a trademark? And what is fair use of a trademark? Read More »
The world of video game creation has unique challenges in spiritual successors or homage works. Some of these works defeat challenges of copyright infringement while others do not. For example, 2014 game TxK was sent a letter by Atari threatening action due to the similarities between TxK and Artari’s classic Tempest. What is a spiritual successor? …
When does a spiritual successor become copyright infringement? Read More »
Ringing in the New Year not only brought new year’s resolutions, but it also gave effect to the CVAA in the video game industry. What is the CVAA? The CVAA (21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act 2010) sets forth accessibility requirements for all advanced communications services. This includes advanced communications services for game software, …
Update: 1/26/2019: Unity has updated its terms. Over the past week, the video game world has been closely following the tumultuous relations between Improbable, Unity and Epic Games centering on an interpretation of an update (or clarification) of Unity’s Terms of Service. This case has brought into the spotlight an ordinary and extremely common contract: Terms …
We’d like to issue an enthusiastic welcome to Rachel Ann Stephens and Christy Coates. Rachel and Christy are joining Odin Law and Media as our new clerks. Rachel Ann Stephens is a second-year at University of North Carolina Law with a passion for media law and its interaction with entertainment mediums such as film, television, and …
2018 was an eventful year from a legal perspective in the video game industry. At Odin Law and Media, here’s what we’re anticipating to see as growing legal challenges in this space in the new year. Esports more formalized Currently, esports is a very fragmented part of the video game industry. There are different tiers …
Happy Holidays from all of us at Odin Law and Media (including Darcy, the official doggo of our firm). Thank you all for a wonderful 2018 – we look forward to seeing more of you in 2019!
The main goal of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is to protect technology, devices, and/or services that are copyrighted. It also makes it a criminal act to circumvent access to technology, devices, and/or services even if there isn’t actual infringement on copyright – aka, trying to access something online without permission. At its core, …
Diligence is the process by which a prospective buyer or investor looks at a company in order to decide whether or not to invest or buy. It’s really that simple. Diligence can be very scant or it can be very involved. A wise investor or acquirer will lean toward more aggressive diligence. That means looking …
How to prepare for a financing or acquisition: Diligence Read More »
In 2018, we had a lot of new ground covered in the video game industry from a legal perspective. Here are some of the most notable, influential stories in case you missed them: Studio Closures & Snafus More than a thousand jobs have been lost in the video game industry in 2018 alone – and …