When video games meet IP law

• Author: Anna Piechówka
• Position: Intellectual Property Counsel, CD PROJEKT RED, Warsaw, Poland

In April 2020, 12 million viewers gathered inside Fortnite Battle Royale to watch a live, in-game Travis Scott concert. This was a landmark moment for social interaction within video games. (Photo: Courtesy of Epic Games)

The global number of gamers also continues to grow and, according to Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report for 2020, is expected to exceed 3 billion by 2023. Over the past year, it has become clear that video games are an incredibly important field for social interaction. Newzoo’s research shows that socializing is the second most popular reason for people spending more time playing games during the pandemic. As more people gather on gaming platforms, games themselves are starting to offer features and experiences similar to social media or real-life events — even replacing the latter. This was seen in April 2020, when 12 million viewers gathered inside Fortnite Battle Royale to watch a live, in-game Travis Scott concert. This was a landmark moment for social interaction within video games.

Thanks to the development of technology, the design, complexity and diversity of video games are changing rapidly. Players can now choose from a wide range of formats and genres to engage with, and it is common for AAA games (those developed with the highest budgets in the industry) to offer dozens, or even hundreds of hours of story content. Graphically, too, video games are becoming more realistic. They can capture every minute detail, such as the personal image of protagonists, which are more and more frequently using famous Hollywood actors or influencers.

Thanks to the development of technology, the design, complexity and diversity of video games are changing rapidly.

Similarly, as is the case for other artistic creations, the core of video games has always been their intellectual property (IP). Compared to traditional copyright-protected works, video games are generally much more complex. They are a conglomerate of many different elements, such as computer programs, audiovisual content, pictures, designs, literary works, voiceovers, music, artistic performances, trademarks and many others. Managing the specifics of video games presents a real challenge when it comes to IP protection.

An even greater challenge has emerged as a result of the rapid development of the video game market, and the revolution in video games themselves. Also of note is that video games are generally distributed worldwide, meaning that, as a rule, specific regulations in all relevant jurisdictions should be taken into account. However, from an IP law perspective, numerous aspects of video games remain unclear. These can be a problem for video game developers, publishers, and even players in some cases. Let's take a look at some of the most interesting IP-related issues that the industry has seen so far.

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