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 …
User generated content (UGC) can provide a company with a lot of positives, marketing and community-wise, but it comes with a ton of legal landmines. When managing a VR/AR experience, here are some things to keep in mind if a developer is going to allow UGC. The primary legal issues The two main legal issues …
How do you handle user generated content in VR/AR experiences? Part 3 Read More »
Not all clients are in crisis situations – even if the tone of their email or phone call suggests they are. When there is a real, bona fide crisis, what are the lawyer’s ethical obligations? What about when the media gets involved? What is a crisis? A crisis can be anything with the potential to …
We are privileged to host this guest post by David Flint from MacRoberts LLP, a law firm based in the UK. David Flint is Senior Partner of, and a partner in the Intellectual Property, Technology and Commercial Group. Few businesses in the United States can fail to have become aware of the EU’s General Data Protection …
GDPR: Roadblocks on the Information Superhighway Read More »
What is a breach of contract? You read about it a lot in news articles and it seems like a simple enough phrase – but there’s more to it than initially meets the eye. Technically, a breach of contract is when an agreement or exchange is not honored by one or more parties. When one …
Merchandising, merchandising, merchandising. Where the real money is (sometimes) made. If you’re considering setting up a merch shop for your game studio, however, you want to make sure you’ve got yourself covered from a legal perspective. Privacy Policy A privacy policy is a must for websites that collect or process any user data. This informs users …
So the company didn’t work out. It happens. With recent news of studio closures, I thought I would put together this brief guide to shutting down. First, some definitions Before the meat, let’s talk about the bones. These are key terms I’ll be throwing around a lot: Company – the business. This could be an …
Dissolving A Company – A primer on ending it all Read More »
What can you do if someone has copied your game? First, “copied” can mean a lot of things. Is this a clone game? Is it an unlocked .apk or drm-free install file? Did they take your art, sound, music and other visual assets and copy them into their own attempted-cpoy of the code? Each of …
The world of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) is pretty new, but fortunately, the legal standards for these experiences are still very similar to the legal standards for video games and experiences in other more common media types. The primary contracts you want to have in place for a VR or AR experience …
What contracts should I have in place for my VR/AR experience? Part 1 Read More »
For software or software as a service (SaaS) companies, it can be a little confusing to figure out what sort of licensing contracts and legal documents you need. Here’s a brief primer on the differences between three of the more well-known legal agreements. End-user license agreement (EULA) An end-user license agreement, also known as a …