Business

What California Employers Need to Know about Newly Classified Employees, Part 2

This post and the previous post outline the employers’ responsibilities to new employees under California state law as this year, California employers are finding themselves having to treat former independent contractors as employees. This not only applies to employers physically operating in California but also any employer who has workers located in the state. (1) Provide …

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What California Employers Need to Know about Newly Classified Employees

In the aftermath of the 2018 Dynamex decision and its subsequent codification in AB5 (the “gig workers bill”), California employers are finding themselves having to treat former independent contractors as employees under California state law. This not only applies to employers physically operating in California but also any employer who has workers located in the …

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The ABCs of AB5

Earlier this month, a California judge ordered Lyft and Uber to reclassify their workers while the litigation over the companies’ compliance with Assembly Bill No. 5 (AB5), A.K.A. “the gig workers bill,” continues. The order comes after more than a year of Lyft and Uber refusing to classify their drivers as employees under the new …

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When does my game fall within the scope of COPPA?

United States federal privacy regulations are different for kids under 13 and compliance is really tough. Provided the game is not primarily targeted or advertised at kids, and a game studio has no knowledge of kids using it, it’s usually a simpler plan to just exclude them where monetizing through ads or otherwise collecting personally …

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Save the Date for July 31st: Enabling Ad-Tech Features to Ensure CCPA Compliance

Since July 1st, some California consumers have eagerly begun enforcing their newly created privacy rights through class-action lawsuits aimed at companies consumers believe to have mishandled their data.  Just last week, a consumer sued Walmart, alleging a lack of necessary security standards to protect the consumer’s credit card data during a recent security breach – …

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Going Indie: legal considerations when leaving a game studio to form a new one

With the independence day holiday this month, there has been a lot of discussion of revolt and rebellion. One of the biggest acts of rebellion for an employee at an established game studio is quitting to start a new studio. Before Quitting A soon-to-be indie developer should carefully review employment agreements with their current company. …

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Virtual assets 102: gift card regulations, virtual currency & virtual property

We’ve recently discussed the elements of virtual currency and virtual property in online games. But what types of regulations might apply to virtual goods and currency? There are some interesting ones that many game developers or publishers may not consider, but they should. In the last post, I discussed money laundering. Today’s post will cover …

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Virtual assets 102: money laundering regulations, virtual currency & virtual property

We’ve recently discussed the elements of virtual currency and virtual property in online games. But what types of regulations might apply to virtual goods and currency? There are some interesting ones that many game developers or publishers may not consider, but they should. Today’s post will cover one: money laundering regulations.  It was reported in …

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Non-Competes & Non-Soliciations: What’s the Difference?

When building a successful games business, developers often seek protection from unwanted competition by asking employees to sign a non-compete or non-solicitation agreement as a condition of the individual’s employment. What’s the difference, and what’s the likelihood of a court enforcing those agreements? Non-Competes are tough to enforce–which is why they need to be carefully …

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Virtual assets 101: what is virtual currency?

We talked previously about virtual property – property that’s solely virtual in nature that isn’t tangible and has no real-world equivalent. One type of virtual property is virtual currency. So what is virtual currency? In this instance, we’re specifically discussing games, apps, platforms and other virtual economies.  In many games, players can use real-world money …

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