In the creator economy, unscripted entertainment and video game production, chain of title is everything. If a producer or studio cannot show it has the rights it needs in the footage, performance, voice, name, and likeness appearing in a project, that lack of rights can derail distribution, financing, insurance, or an acquisition. Publicity and appearance …
Signing Your Life Away: The Wild West of Publicity Releases Read More »
Making a game is both a creative and a business process. With that comes legal considerations that can shape a game project from its earliest concept through post-launch support. For many developers, legal issues appear in stages. A team starts with an idea, brings in collaborators, creates assets, tests the build, prepares for release, and …
A development or publishing agreement can look like a lifeline right up until it isn’t. Studios of every size have signed deals that seemed reasonable at the time, only to find themselves on the wrong end of a termination clause that wiped out their runway, stripped them of rights to work they spent years building …
Starting a business has never been more accessible and at the same time, never more complicated. Between global audiences and new tools that let creators and founders move faster than ever, it’s easier to build something real. Because of that, making sure that the fundamentals don’t get skipped is also more crucial than ever. This …
Introducing the 10-Step Quick Start Guide for New Businesses Read More »
Something is shifting in the Roblox ecosystem. Off the back of the commercial success of “Grow a Garden” and “Steal a Brainrot,” each of which began as a hit Roblox game and grew to see significant success beyond Roblox, more and more interested parties are beginning to explore acquiring Roblox games and trying to grow …
How to Prepare Your Roblox Game for a Sale or Investment Round Read More »
A lot goes into creating and selling a physical product. The product and packaging has to be designed. Then the product needs to be manufactured (and maybe marketed). Finally, the product needs to be shipped and distributed to customers. Sometimes, a third-party merchandise company will handle the process. Other times, a developer or creator (who …
Hidden Legal Risks When Dealing with Physical Games and Merchandise Read More »
There’s a common assumption in game development that “legal” lives somewhere off to the side of production. In practice, the legal risk profile of a game is often a mirror of its production discipline. When milestones slip, scope drifts, roles blur or documentation disappears, companies can be exposed on multiple fronts. Production risk and legal …
In game publishing, and especially in game publishing agreements, clawbacks are safety valves that can keep intellectual property from being locked away and lost to history. What Is a Clawback in Licensing? In the world of intellectual property licensing, a “clawback” refers to a contractual mechanism that allows a party to take back rights or …
Don’t Lose Your Game Forever: How Clawbacks Can Help Preserve Rights in Publishing Deals Read More »
We’ve written about issues on Roblox before, including contractor agreements and intellectual property and privacy issues and other legal issues to consider. But today we’re going to talk about when developers work with other developers who are (or aren’t) going to own part of a game and why developers should consider formalizing those relationships early, …
Roblox Developer Ownership Agreements: Why They Matter Read More »
Intellectual property (IP) is one of the business cornerstones for creators. Whether a video game developer, a tabletop game designer, an author, a content or other creator – copyrights and trademarks let creators protect their creations and livelihoods. Enforcing those rights helps prevent fraudulent and infringing actors from stealing goodwill and money from a creator …
Fan Content Policies: Working with your Community Read More »