Mexico: The serious side of gaming
From being simple computer programs based on repetitive patterns to today’s complex fully interactive digital platforms using artificial intelligence, with “worlds” and “scenarios” that in some instances take the gamer into a “parallel reality”, video games have evolved.
Software is the core of a video game, but there are other artistic, literary and distinctive elements protected under IP rights that should also be taken into account.
Software
According to Mexican law, software is conceptualised as the original expression in any form, language or code, of a set of instructions that, with a certain sequence, structure and disposition, makes a computer or device perform a specific task or function.
In terms of the Federal Copyright Law (FCL), software is protected as if it were a literary work. This is based on the fact that the source code of a software, that is, the programming instructions, are represented in text formats. By comparing the text of a source code in view of another, it would be possible to establish a difference between, or a copy of, them, so to determine the existence of a copyright violation, when significant parts of the source code form part of another.
In addition to the literary aspect of the source code, the FCL has an express provision establishing an extension of copyright protection over all visual and audible elements that can be appreciated through the software execution.
Script and storyboard
In terms of the glossary of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), literary works are all forms of original written works, whether literary, scientific, technical or merely practical, regardless of their value and purpose.
