Welcome to the 1

Edition of our “Level Up” series.

Video games have been a popular form of entertainment since their creation and have played a key role in shaping pop culture

The explosion in sales is in part due to advances in technology and the accessibility ofonline gaming, which have allowed for the

globalisation of video games on an unprecedented scale. Improved internet speeds, mobile gaming and free-to-play models have

made video games accessible to groups of gamers that may not otherwise have had access to a gaming platform. In addition,

technological advances (in particular, the emergence of major streaming platforms such as Twitch) combined with a cultural shift

have facilitated the rise of the esports industry, with elite esports professionals commanding significant salaries, securing personal

sponsorship deals and competing for multimillion dollar prize pools.

measures put in place by governments across the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With this in mind, we wanted to create an all-in-one legal guide for those that currently operate in or are considering entering the

video games industry with the purpose of providing an overview of the life cycle of a video game – from the early stages of

development, past the grind of regulatory compliance, through to the final stages of monetising the product.

We have had the privilege of working closely with several clients in the video gamesand entertainment industry,

includingdevelopers, content creators and investors. This has allowed us to gain valuable insight into key legal and commercial

issues that stakeholders regularly face, ranging from ownership of content, licensing ofworks and enforcing proprietary rights

developers working from their home studios. Regardless of origin, developers will

needto have a team of talented specialists with the skills to be able to create

gamecontent, including:

The creation and development of certain content might be outsourced to other

There are a number of different IP and proprietary rights that exist to protect different

elements of a video game. These protective rights can be used by the proprietor (and

potentially its licensees) to prevent infringement, misuse or misappropriation by third

parties of the video game (either in part or as a whole). We list some of these rights in

the table below:

materials arranged in a systematic or methodical way.

DLCs; add-ons; lootboxes and skins).

unregistered trade marks and design rights.

Copyright may protect a character’s image as an original “graphic work”. Under

Englishcopyright law, it has been established that the graphics of video games may

beprotected as individual frames.

This provides a base level of protection, although

generic characters may be considered unprotectable ideas and characters which are

sufficiently adapted by a third party may not be infringing. Traditionally, the courts have

held that there is no copyright in a name under English law as names are too short to

constitute “literary works” in and of themselves.

Recent case law on newspaper

character names and images. Whilst the cost associated with such an application may

not make it practicable to trade-mark every character, it may be a useful way of

protecting particularly important iconic characters or mascots, especially if they will be

used in other games and/or merchandise as part of a wider franchise arrangement.

Trade-marks may be perpetual provided they are renewed and are used in each five-

year period. Also, recent changes to trad mark law have provided for a greater range of

trademarks, including 3D and motion marks.

In the absence of a registered trade-mark, English law provides for some protection of

unregistered trade-marks through “passing-off”. A passing-off action is more difficult to

establish, however, as it requires that your brand (here a video game character) has a