WIPO releases study into video game protection
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has published a multi-national study into legal protection for copyright in video games.
The study, The Legal Status of Video Games: Comparative Analysis in National Approaches, was released on October 17 and includes surveys on national legislations and calls for a sui generis regime to help video games have their own form of protection.
It focuses on Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay in South America; Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Russia in Europe; China, Japan, Korea and India in Asia; Egypt and Rwanda, in Africa; and Canada and the US, in North America.
The study, which claimed the featured jurisdictions had not provided efficient answers on how they classify video games, analysed how they were protected and considered the status of stakeholders, including authors, publishers and producers.
“The current landscape of the legal protection of video games appears extremely complex indeed,” WIPO said upon publishing the report, adding that video games are comprised of “multiple copyrighted works.”
WIPO said there are two aspects which form the bases for video games: audiovisual, including pictures, video recordings and sounds; and software, specifically how the audiovisual is technically managed and how users interact with elements of the game.
“Although the majoritarian trend considers that software is the prevailing element of video games, we believe that the distinguishing element of one video game from another will not be the underlying software only, but also the various audiovisual and literary elements created for each video game,” the report said.
The study suggested an international debate among stakeholders involved in the production of games and recommends establishing a sui generis regime.
“It is our opinion that video games are complex creations, composed by multiple copyrighted works which deserve independent legal protection,” the study said.
“It’s a fascinating study that addresses many of the complexities that attorneys and companies in the video game space deal with on a daily basis,” said David Anderson, Counsel at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP in Los Angeles, who added that a unified approach to protection would be welcome.
“I found some of the other recommendations such as enacting of rules to guarantee fair compensation to authors who have contributed significantly to the success or a video game to be interesting in concept, but potentially problematic, at least from the view of a US attorney.
“It raises issues of what is a 'significant contribution' and what is 'fair compensation,' and I would be interested to see the recommendations that would be made in that regard.”
In its conclusion, the study identified areas in which further clarity and harmonisation on the legal status of video games is needed.
Reporting that the market for video games has continued to evolve “exponentially,” the study looked at future scenarios and how they could signify the need for a clear and concise framework.
Admitting that it was “not impossible” to imagine video game competitions broadcast on television “as sporting events are today,” it stressed the need for lawmakers to address the issue of rights for television networks and Internet websites.
“…. it seems that no country in the world has regulated this matter in detail, now is the perfect time to approach a harmonised, international solution for an eventual implementation in domestic legal regimes,” it concluded.
Anderson added: “As with other industries, whether it’s the compensation of a top actor in a film or the CEO of a public company, compensation in the game industry is often determined by past success or having a proven track record, and I would question whether it would be possible to fashion a set of rules that would be fair and appropriate on any type of uniform basis, especially given the range of players in the industry.”
