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Video Game Law Blog
Current issues in video game law.
| We love video games and play them whenever we can. And despite the fact that we frequently get involved in contract and other disputes regarding games, we think that overall, video games are a lot [read more]Thursday, 11 November 2010 |
| Greg Lastowka has published a new book on the law of virtual worlds. We admit we haven't read it cover-to-cover yet, but on a quick skim it looks like it will be a great read. And it's available [read more]Thursday, 4 November 2010 | Chris Bennett |
| Gamasutra has posted an analysis of the questions from this morning's hearing of Schwarzenegger v. EMA at the US Supreme Court, with a link to the Court's transcript.
Also an OpEd piece [read more]Tuesday, 2 November 2010 | Michael Mjanes |
| We discovered through GamePolitics that Foreignpolicy.com has an interesting article about portraying real-world conflicts in video games. The article was prompted partly by the recent Medal of Honor [read more]Friday, 29 October 2010 | David Spratley |
| Mark your calendars: the US Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on November 2 about the California law that prohibits the sale of violent games to minors. Two lower courts have overturned the [read more]Friday, 29 October 2010 | David Spratley |
| We reported a while ago (here) about the outcry in Canada and elsewhere over the fact that EA's upcoming Medal of Honor game would allow players to play as Taliban fighters in the multiplayer [read more]Friday, 1 October 2010 | David Spratley |
| Back in June of 2010, it was reported that Tim Langdell, the holder of various trademarks related to Edge (such as Gamer's Edge and Cutting Edge) filed a lawsuit against EA, claiming that Mirror's [read more]Wednesday, 8 September 2010 | Karine Bellavance |
| EA's latest Medal of Honor instalment is set for release in October 2010, but is already causing a stir. The reason? The single-player game involves US soldiers operating in Afghanistan, but the [read more]Thursday, 26 August 2010 | David Spratley |
| Digital Rights Management (DRM) firm, Uniloc, has filed a copy protection suit against several large corporations, including Sony, Activision Blizzard, Aspyr Media, and others alleging that the named [read more]Monday, 16 August 2010 | Jennifer A. Whincup |
| A UK court has ruled that R4 cards, commonly used to allow users to play pirated games on the Nintendo DS, are illegal in the UK.
Although defendants Wai Dat Chan and Playables Limited argued [read more]Monday, 9 August 2010 | Michael Mjanes |
| Submitted by Julio Mena
It has been reported that the Kinect motion control device for the Xbox 360 console, much like the Xbox 360 console, will not be sold in China as a result of an edict issued [read more]Wednesday, 28 July 2010 |
| Submitted by Brigitte Lenis
Sam Keller, a former collegiate quarterback, along with other NCAA athletes are reportedly filing a class action law suit against EA sports and the NCAA, citing their [read more]Wednesday, 28 July 2010 |
| In the midst of legal battles involving payments owed to its publishing partners, South Peak has sued Majesco Entertainment over the publishing of My Baby 3 & Friends. The issue is who has the [read more]Tuesday, 27 July 2010 | Chris Bennett |
| Digital locks and anti-circumvention prohibitions generally say that it is illegal to bypass technological copy-protection measures. Such laws are contentious because of the fear that these prohibitions [read more]Monday, 26 July 2010 | David Spratley |
| Submitted by David Beckstead
As a follow up to our blog dated March 5, 2010 and entitled West and Zampella Sue Activision, another lawsuit has allegedly been brought against Activision by some [read more]Wednesday, 21 July 2010 |
| As California prepares for its day in front of the US Supreme Court to justify the constitutionality of its latest video game legislation, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has issued a [read more]Monday, 19 July 2010 | Michael Mjanes |
| TIGA, the UK game industry trade association, has recently identified Canada as a "major threat". The reason? Canada's game-friendly business environment makes Canada more appealing [read more]Monday, 19 July 2010 | David Spratley |
| Submitted by Brandi Stocks
Faced with the ire of its online community, Blizzard has withdrawn its plans to require users of Blizzard's forums to post under their real names.
On Tuesday, [read more]Thursday, 15 July 2010 |
| Submitted by Dan Chapman
In a test of exactly how far the U.S. First Amendment goes toward protecting freedom of speech, Jim Brown, a retired NFL football player, has launched an appeal of a U [read more]Wednesday, 14 July 2010 |
| Leading up to the release of THQ's Saints Row 2 in the fall of 2008, open-world crime-related gaming aficionados everywhere were inundated with ads featuring adult film superstar Tera Patrick,scantily [read more]Monday, 12 July 2010 |
| As a follow up to our May 26, 2009 blog entitled "Duke Nukem Forever or Never?", it has been reported that 3D Realms/Apogee Ltd. and Take-Two have come to a settlement agreement with respect [read more]Monday, 12 July 2010 | Karine Bellavance |
| Electronic Arts has been hit with a lawsuit aiming to stop the release of the next version of its Sports Active game. The suit was brought by Active Network, Inc., who provides on-line sports and [read more]Wednesday, 30 June 2010 | David Spratley |
| Bill C-32, Canada's latest attempt to amend its Copyright Act, was introduced early this month. Generally the bill is seen as striking an acceptable balance between rights-holders and consumers [read more]Tuesday, 22 June 2010 | David Spratley |
| Escapistmagazine.com has reported that the Entertainment Software Association ("ESA") obtained a permanent injunction over the Chicago Transit Authority ("CTA") after having been [read more]Friday, 18 June 2010 |
| Submitted by Brigitte Lenis
ING reports that Sony has been hit with another class action lawsuits after having disabled the "Other OS" feature from the non-slim PlayStation 3 models [read more]Thursday, 10 June 2010 |
| Submitted by David Beckstead
The Vancouver Sun is reporting that last week, British Columbia's legislature passed a bill which would create an 'Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit' [read more]Monday, 7 June 2010 |
| In 2009, a complete ban on the production and sale of violent video games was proposed by ministers in the German Parilament. An opponent of the proposed ban, however, collected sufficient signatures [read more]Wednesday, 2 June 2010 | Tudor Carsten |
| Last month, it was announced by Reuters that the US Supreme Court would decide whether a California law banning the sale and rental of violent video games to minors (the "Law") is unconstitutional [read more]Thursday, 27 May 2010 | Tania Da Silva |
| Submitted by Brandi Stocks, Called Clerk
In order to earn a teen-friendly rating, Blizzard Entertainment has edited Starcraft 2 for the South Korean market. An early version of Starcraft 2 received [read more]Wednesday, 26 May 2010 |
| Sony's original PS3s allowed owners to install third-party operating systems such as Linux. Citing security concerns, Sony phased that functionality out in its later PS3 models and recently released [read more]Friday, 7 May 2010 | David Spratley |
| Submitted by Dan Chapman, Articled Student
The RCMP have arrested a man in Quebec in connection with what it calls the "Illegal reproduction of video games" in a March 31, 2010 raid [read more]Thursday, 15 April 2010 |
| Submitted by Brandi Stocks, Called Clerk
Microsoft is suing U.K.-based third-party memory card and controller maker Datel in the United States federal court for allegedly infringing multiple Microsoft [read more]Monday, 12 April 2010 |
| A class action complaint has reportedly been filed against the retailer GameStop on the basis that it is "deceptively misleading" customers into believing that they can download all content [read more]Tuesday, 6 April 2010 | Karine Bellavance |
| Will gamers of the future become social pariahs like smokers? Resorting to hiding in corners and in their cars, just to get one quick fix?
I recently came across a couple of very interesting articles [read more]Monday, 29 March 2010 | Sarah Dale-Harris |
| According to a recent article in Kotaku, Switzerland's National Council recently passed a bill banning the "manufacture, advertisement, importation and sale of any game that promotes as a [read more]Thursday, 25 March 2010 | Ali Owaisi |
| Submitted by Dan Chapman, Articled Student
The U.S. Federal Court last week dismissed a case against Sony and lead designer of God of War, David Jaffe. The plaintiffs, alleging similarities between [read more]Wednesday, 24 March 2010 |
| Submitted by Brandi Stocks, Called Clerk
Reports indicate that the Collector's Edition of Ubisoft's Silent Hunter 5 has been recalled in Germany due to the appearance of "anti-constitutional [read more]Tuesday, 23 March 2010 |
| Gamasutra.com reports that a group called the Patent Compliance Group has filed a "qui tram" action against Activision in a District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which apparently [read more]Friday, 5 March 2010 | Tania Da Silva |
| Jason West and Vince Zampella, co-founders of Infinity Ward, have allegedly filed a lawsuit against Acitivision Publishing Inc. claiming breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good [read more]Friday, 5 March 2010 | Tania Da Silva |
| It has apparently been confirmed by THQ that Universomo, its Finnish mobile games studio, has entered liquidation. Universomo reportedly had more that 15 games and entertainment applications scheduled [read more]Friday, 5 March 2010 | Karine Bellavance |
| 1UP reported late last month that Ninja Gaiden director and former Tecmo employee Tomonobu Itagaki has settled his lawsuit with Tecmo out of court. Itagaki left Tecmo in 2008 over unpaid bonuses and [read more]Friday, 5 March 2010 | Michael Mjanes |
| HRSDC intends to eliminate the Information Technology Workers category any day. Provide your support for saving the IT category - Information Technology Workers
The IT Category - Advantages to [read more]Thursday, 4 March 2010 |
| Sony acquires LittleBigPlanet developer...360 owners sobbing everywhere
Way back in October 2008 when platformer LittleBigPlanet was released to much fanfare and universal critical acclaim as [read more]Wednesday, 3 March 2010 | Ali Owaisi |
| Ex- UCLA star basketball player Ed O'Bannon's class action suit against the NCAA (the "Class Action") got a green light from the U.S. District Court when it denied the NCAA's [read more]Wednesday, 24 February 2010 | Josie Morello |
| According to Develop-online.net, GSC Game World ("GSC"), the Russian studio which developed the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, is alleging that Kiev-based studio 4A Games' proprietary engine [read more]Friday, 19 February 2010 | Tania Da Silva |
| Last week, it was reported by Gamasutra.com that NetEase had suspended new user registrations due to its application to the Chinese government for a license to operate the World of WarCraft expansion [read more]Friday, 19 February 2010 | Tania Da Silva |
| Viacom agreed to pay Harmonix earn-outs if Rock Band exceeded certain financial targets. Viacom paid the earn-outs, but now wants a significant refund, based on lower earnings and an "adjustment [read more]Tuesday, 16 February 2010 | Chris Bennett |
| Recall: Ontario has a tax credit of 35 or 40% for work done by companies (regardless of country of origin) using Ontario-based labour (and certain other expenses). These credits are charmingly called [read more]Monday, 15 February 2010 | Ted Maduri |
| Super Mario Bros. Wii was officially released in Australia on November 12, 2009. It turns out, however, that some fortunate Australian gamers may have had their hands on it as early as November 6, [read more]Thursday, 11 February 2010 |
| For those of us who grew up with Mortal Kombat, or had a Bally/Midway pinball machine in our basement, it is sad to see the once great publisher fallen so low. Midway filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy [read more]Thursday, 11 February 2010 | Michael Mjanes |
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