Dan D. Nabel - Video Game Law in a Nutshell

WEST ACADEMIC PUBLISHINGS LAW SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD

JESSE H. CHOPER

Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus
University of California, Berkeley

JOSHUA DRESSLER

Distinguished University Professor, Frank R. Strong Chair in Law
Michael E. Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University

YALE KAMISAR

Professor of Law Emeritus, University of San Diego
Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Michigan

MARY KAY KANE

Professor of Law, Chancellor and Dean Emeritus
University of California, Hastings College of the Law

LARRY D. KRAMER

President, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

JONATHAN R. MACEY

Professor of Law, Yale Law School

ARTHUR R. MILLER

University Professor, New York University
Formerly Bruce Bromley Professor of Law, Harvard University

GRANT S. NELSON

Professor of Law Emeritus, Pepperdine University
Professor of Law Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles

A. BENJAMIN SPENCER

Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law
University of Virginia School of Law

JAMES J. WHITE

Robert A. Sullivan Professor of Law Emeritus
University of Michigan

VIDEO GAME LAW

IN A NUTSHELL

DAN D. NABEL

Principal Counsel,
Riot Games, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Lecturer in Law,
USC Gould School of Law

BILL CHANG

Principal Counsel,
Riot Games, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Lecturer in Law,
USC Gould School of Law

The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or other professional advice, and this publication is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. If you require legal or other expert advice, you should seek the services of a competent attorney or other professional.

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2018 LEG, Inc. d/b/a West Academic

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St. Paul, MN 55101
1-877-888-1330

West, West Academic Publishing, and West Academic are trademarks of West Publishing Corporation, used under license.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-1-68328-106-1

We dedicate this book to Pamela and Julie.
Without your steadfast encouragement
and support, we never could have
written this book.

OUTLINE

a. Independent Contractors vs.
Employees

i. FeesHow Much Will This
License Cost?

ii. License ScopeHow Can I Use
This License?

iii. TerminationHow Can I Lose
This License?

iv. Warranties/IndemnitiesWhat
Am I Protected Against?

. How Will We Create Game
Content? (Part 1)

a. Prong #1: Ownership and Scope of a
Valid Copyright

b. Prong #2: Copying Constituent
Original Elements

. How Will We Create Game
Content? (Part 2)

. How Can We Protect Our
Content?

B. FTC Act Section 5: Deceptive Acts and
Practices

Other (Non-Ownership) Virtual
Transactions Issues

a. Example #1: The ESRBA Creature
of Industry

b. Example #2: Koreas GRACA
Creature of Law

Misrepresenting Game Content or
Features

a. Original Employee Endorsement
Section (May 2015)

c. Enforcement Actions Based on
Employee Endorsements

National Labor Relations Act & Social
Media Policies

Employee Privacy (Cal. Labor Code
980)

c. Shine the Light & Right of Access
Laws

e. Electronic Communications
Protection Act

. When Should I Take Legal
Action to Protect My Game?

Question #1: Materiality & Net
Effects?

a. Account Selling and Boosting
Claims

a. Third Party Esports Leagues:
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

b. Publisher Run Championships:
DOTA2

Third Party Monetization Efforts
Gambling

TABLE OF CASES

References are to Pages

Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Intl, 142

Amaretto Ranch Breedables, LLC v. Ozimals, Inc., 226

Arista Records, LLC v. Tkach, 376

Atari, Inc. v. Amusement World, Inc., 96

Atari, Inc. v. N. Am. Philips Consumer Elecs. Corp., 93

Baker v. Selden, 93

Ben & Jerrys Homemade, Inc. v. Rodax Distributors, Inc., 120

Blizzard Entmt, Inc. v. Lilith Games (Shanghai) Co., 88, 101

Board of Trade of City of Chicago v. United States, 425

Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., 31

Brown v. Entmt Merchants Assn, 165, 296

Brown v. Pro Football, Inc., 432

Cariou v. Prince, 119

Central Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Public Serv. Commn, 158

CI Games S.A. v. Destination Films, 124

CMG Worldwide Inc. v. Maximum Family Games, LLC, 164

Cole v. Burns Intl Sec. Serv., Inc., 28

Comedy III Prods., Inc. v. Gary Saderup, Inc., 154

Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 35

Continental Basketball Assn, Inc. v. Ellenstein Enters., 442

Continental TV, Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc., 423

Data E. USA, Inc. v. Epyx, Inc., 102

Davidson & Assocs. v. Jung, 380

DaVinci Editrice S.R.L. v. ZiKo Games, LLC, 103, 104

DDR Holdings v. Hotels.Com, L.P., 143

de Havilland v. FX Networks, LLC, 168

Dillinger, LLC v. Elec. Arts Inc., 127, 147

Doe v. TCI Cablevision, 156

Dynamex Operations W., Inc. v. Superior Court, 13

E.S.S. Entmt 2000, Inc. v. Rock Star Videos, Inc., 121, 126

eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, 399

Electronic Arts, Inc. v. Textron Inc., 131

Evans v. Linden Research, Inc., 224

F.T.C. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 218

F.T.C. v. Indiana Federation of Dentists, 425

F.T.C. v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., 352

Facebook, Inc. v. MaxBounty, Inc., 304

Federal Baseball Club v. National League, 428

Flood v. Kuhn, 428

Fraser v. Major League Soccer (Fraser I), 431

Fraser v. Major League Soccer (Fraser II), 431

Gaiman v. McFarlane, 102

Gravano v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., 170

Haelan Labs. Inc. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., 150

Hart v. Elec. Arts, Inc., 155, 163, 175

Haywood v. National Basketball Association, 429

Hogan v. DC Comics, 102

Kater v. Churchill Downs Incorporated, 253

Kirby v. Sega of Am., Inc., 161

Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd., 82

L.A. Meml Coliseum Commn v. National Football League, 432

Ladore v. Sony Computer Entmt Am., LLC, 301

Leicester v. Warner Bros., 112

Lilith Games (Shanghai) Co. v. uCool, Inc., 399, 400

Lohan v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., 170, 174

Mackey v. National Football League, 430, 437

Magnavox Co. v. Chicago Dynamic Indus., 141

Mason v. Machine Zone, Inc., 250, 252

Mastercard Intl Inc., Internet Gambling Litigation, In re, 245

Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc., 120

McNeil v. National Football League, 430, 440

MDY Indus., LLC v. Blizzard Entmt, Inc., 405

Mil-Spec Monkey, Inc. v. Activision Blizzard, Inc., 129

Morris v. Ernst & Young, LLP, 29

Morrow v. State, 242

Murgio, United States v., 237

Murphy v. NCAA, 456

NCAA Student-Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing Litig. (Keller), In re, 163

NLRB v. Borg-Warner Corp., 438

No Doubt v. Activision Publg, Inc., 162

Noriega v. Activision/Blizzard Inc., 164

Northern Pacific R. Co. v. United States, 423

Novalogic, Inc. v. Activision Blizzard, 129

OBrien v. Pabst Sales Co., 149

On Davis v. The Gap, Inc., 202

P.S. Products Inc. v. Activision Blizzard Inc., 139

Palmer v. Schonhorn Enterprises, Inc., 152