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The IP Dilemma In Un-Authorized Use Of Video Games – Intellectual Property – India – Mondaq News Alerts



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The IP Dilemma In Un-Authorized Use Of Video Games


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E-sport is considered as one of the most revolutionary
introduction to sports in recent history. It’s not just a
different set of rules, but also an amalgamation of the elements of
skill and strategy of the physical world and technology’s
virtual reality. A video game essentially has a bundle of
intellectual property rights and contractual rights within it.
These rights are applied in various ways and cover a lot of
fundamental aspect of the game starting from soundtrack, to
characters to the artwork in the gaming codes and many more. The
video game industry has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry
which has pushed the boundaries of IP law with its rapid
development over the past two decades. But with the huge influx of
money, there also have been a lot of legal implications within the
gaming industry. A lot of companies and private organization have
identified the huge income that comes within the gaming industry
and try to exploit it for commercial benefits. One such example in
recent times is conducting gaming tournaments without the
authorization of the game developers. There are a lot of
unauthorized gaming tournaments happening throughout the globe,
especially with respect to few of the most popular multi-player and
battle arena games. Additionally, streaming video game on various
video platforms, for paid subscribers, without the authority of
such game developers has also a lot of legal complications. These
areas are considered as legal grey areas in the gaming industry
since there are no proper guidelines or legal support to it, apart
from the obvious IP law infringement i.e. if the game developers
decide to act upon it.  

Although there are gaming tournaments which are legally
organized by various institutions in the e-sports industry, the
unauthorized tournaments have caused a spot of bother for many of
the game developers. There have been a lot of Intellectual Property
complications with popular YouTube streamers and tournament
organizers who earn in millions for playing and streaming video
games with live commentary and conducting gaming business. While
there are some game developers who support such streaming and
tournaments since it is a free publicity for their games and hence
explicitly allow such streaming in their end-user license
agreement, there are few others, especially the developers of
popular games, who restrict their game from being streamed or
commercially exploited without their permission. There is a need of
a better clarity to be developed by such game developers as to what
can be featured and streamed on different video platforms and to
what extent the gaming tournaments can be conducted but it is hard
to regulate it without proper available guidelines. Moreover, there
has to be a sense of respect and understanding between such
streamers and tournament organizers with the game developers, since
these streamers and organizers earn a lot of money from the work of
the game developers as well as the game developers get free
publicity for their games.

The game developers create intellectual property in the form of
patents, which protects scientific inventions such as the
technology employed by a game and copyrights, which protect the
works of the author/game developers and trademarks, which protects
the marks, words, thumbnails etc. The game developers who own the
various types of intellectual property have the ability to sue
others that infringe on these rights. Hence, such unauthorized use
of popular games by video streamers and tournament organizers who
use a trademark, copyright material or a patented product without
gaining permission or acquiring the license rights may be faced
with legal consequences. Hence, it is necessary for such third
party users to communicate with the game developers before making
an unauthorized use of their games since these parties use the
name, photos of the games and generate huge revenue by using such
names of popular games. Some small developers might not have a
problem owing to a free publicity of their games but the big
developers might not want to be affiliated with such third party
contests without a proper authorization and license. Apart from the
IP infringement, there would also be a potential End-user license
violation of such unauthorized use of the games.

The growth of the gaming industry and the popularity of video
game streaming platforms and tournaments, where money can be won,
have attracted novel intellectual property issues in the video game
industry. The game developers, tournament organizers, and streamers
should adhere to licensing agreements in order to avoid any legal
dilemma. As E-Sports continues to evolve into a form of mainstream
entertainment, streamers and organizers should be aware of their
rights and understand the intellectual property issues that
surround the games they use and the content they create.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.

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