creative industry - legal aspects of new technologies

In the video game sector it is often necessary to draw on specialised knowledge from various fields (e.g. for graphic design projects). In such cases, it is increasingly common to cooperate with external experts by outsourcing certain processes. This form of cooperation carries many advantages, but if the conditions are not carefully framed it can create serious risks for the game development company.

Is the creativity of video game developers limited by architects’ rights to the image of their buildings erected in public space?

Creators of video games often set the action of their games in spaces modelled on the real world or using well-known buildings and other structures existing in public space. Locations used in video games often gain popularity, and for many fans become a tourist destination in their own right (witness the growing interest in visiting Lower Silesia due to the popularity of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter).

Thus it is essential for creators and publishers of video games to determine whether the use of recognisable locations in games is limited in some way by the law, and if so, what requirements must be met to allow features of the built environment to be used in a game.

In recent months, perhaps more than ever, life has moved online. Some people spend their time reading e-books or playing video games. Can they later resell or exchange such “used” works? A recent ruling by the Court of Justice throws into doubt the secondary trading in digital goods.

Nederlands Uitgeversverbond v Tom Kabinet Internet BV (Case C‑263/18), judgment of the Court of Justice of 19 December 2019

The instrument popularly known as the “IP Box,” introduced on 1 January 2019, allows taxpayers to claim a lower, 5% rate of corporate income tax or personal income tax in their annual tax settlements for income generated from commercialisation of qualified intellectual property rights they have created or developed through R&D activity. In this article we discuss how to benefit from the IP Box in the game development industry, who is eligible for the IP Box, and the conditions that must be met.

What could video games have in common with money laundering and terrorism financing? Not much, it might seem at first glance. The duties in the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act are mainly addressed to entities involved in financial services, such as banks and payment institutions. The AML/CTF regulations don’t directly refer to video games or persons involved in their development and operation.

The trend toward advertising in online channels has grown for years, but video games are still not a popular ad platform. While large foreign entities are eager to exploit this opportunity (among game publishers such as Electronic Arts and brands like adidas, Coca-Cola and Daimler), it is harder to find examples of this type of cooperation among Polish entities.

This may be due partly to the independent nature of Polish game productions and because they rarely set their games in realistic spaces (where it is generally easier to place ads). On the other hand, many advertisers seem unaware of this form of advertising, and many publishers don’t seem familiar with this possibility for financing games.