Classifying your workers correctly is important not only for your business’ finances but also for legal liability. Employment and labor laws affect different types of workers in different ways, and they are also taxed in different ways. What’s an employee? The IRS typically assumes workers are employees unless stated otherwise. Employees are workers who are …
What’s the difference between a contractor and an employee? Read More »
Contests, sweepstakes and lotteries are all useful mechanisms for promoting a company online. But only some can be done legally, so businesses need to know the difference between them, however, if they’re going to use one as a marketing tool or offer a giveaway for their business. What’s a contest? A contest is an event …
What’s the difference between a contest, sweepstakes and lottery? Read More »
If you’ve been paying attention, you may have seen press coverage of the Entertainment Software Association’s opposition (PDF) to a proposed change to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. So, what is ESA arguing about? Who are they arguing with? Why is this happening? The short version: A “museum” petitioned the copyright office to change the rules …
What’s up with the DMCA fight over defunct online games? Read More »
Thinking of opening an Internet café/cybercafé? Be prepared to learn about the exciting world of commercial licensing! In order to legally offer a physical location where others will access content like video games (whether they pay for them or not), you must purchase commercial licenses of games. What is a commercial license? When you buy …
Do I need a commercial license to use games for an Internet Cafe? Read More »
COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, is a law that was created to protect the privacy of children under 13. The Act was passed in 1998, took effect in 2000, and then it was updated in 2013. There are a lot of misconceptions about COPPA so let’s address a few of them and how …
What is COPPA and how does it affect my game company? Read More »
As a consumer, it’s important to read a license before signing it whenever possible. As a business offering a license, it’s even more important to understand what is being offered. A license is there to help business set terms of the relationship with the users of a product. Here’s a quick overview of a few …
An overview of licenses: shrink-wrap vs. click-wrap vs. browse-wrap licenses Read More »
There are many legal requirements that companies, especially game and digital media companies, must adhere to in this day and age. One question that comes up often is whether game companies must have a privacy policy on their website. What is a privacy policy? A privacy policy is a document that explains what personal information …
Modding, the act of creating extensions within games and other platforms, is popular in the video game scene. What is a game mod? A game modification, or game mod, alters how a video game may look or behave. Mods are intended to extend and expand gameplay and modders are the individuals or communities that provide these …
If you’re starting your own video game studio, you might be inclined to just hit the ground running without extra thoughts to the legal structure and framework of your business. Naturally, I’m biased against this approach. Here’s a short overview of why you should consider forming a corporation or a limited liability company (LLC) before you …
Why should I create a corporation or LLC for my video game studio? Read More »
In order to make sure you have your bases covered for your business in the new year, here is a checklist for this month to ensure you’re starting the new year on a good foot: Ensure corporate formalities are being observed. This is really simple, but it’s good to check in on from time to …