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 …
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 …
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 …
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 »