The Briefing: Another Court Gets It Right in Tattoo Copyright Dispute (Podcast)
The King of Donkey Kong: Conversations with a Video Game Industry Icon with Garry Kitchen, Legendary Video Game Designer and Expert Witness
The Future of Virtual Reality in Sports with Bob Tetiva, Founder & CEO, Sense Arena
Designing Video Games: The Artist’s Perspective, With Chris Perna, Digital Artist and Former Art Director at Epic Games
The Current State of Live Esports with Rebecca Longawa, Founder & President at Happy Warrior and Chief Operating Officer at Native Gaming
Welcome to the Major League: An In-House Counsel Perspective with Mandy Petrillo, Assistant General Counsel, Fenway Sports Group Boston
A New Solution for Online Gambling Companies with Eric Frank, CEO, Odds On Compliance
Splinterlands and Blockchain Gaming With Aggroed Lighthacker, CEO, Splinterlands
Employment and Workplace Discrimination Issues In Esports With Ruth Rauls and Lisa Koblin
The Esports Trade Association With Megan Van Petten, Founder, ESTA
The Roblox Gaming Platform: Imagination In Action With Ari Staiman, President, Roblox China
Starting an Esports Franchise With Guests Brett Diamond and Annie Scott Riley of Version1 and the Minnesota ROKKR
The Social Impact of Video Games With Guest Ryan Johnson of Social Cxmmunity
The Rise of Mobile Gaming and Esports Gambling With Guest Anthony Gaud of G3 Esports
Wanna Bet? Gambling in Esports
E-Sports: What You Should Know About the Industry
Red Tape Redemption: Global Regulation of Video Games
A Moment with the Misfits: Legal Issues Facing Top Esports Teams
The Next Frontier: Legal and Practical Issues That Surround Mobile Gaming
Collegiate Esports 101: Trends & Legal Issues
The Pitch newsletter is a monthly update of legal issues and news affecting or related to the music, film and television, fine arts, media, professional athletics, eSports, and gaming industries. The Pitch features a diverse...more
In recent years, the world of esports has transformed from a niche subculture of competitive video game players into a global phenomenon of international tournaments, attracting millions of fans and generating substantial...more
The digital age has ushered in innovative forms of entertainment and commerce, including through the development of in-game economies. In recent years, the digital landscape of gaming has expanded beyond mere entertainment,...more
In this episode of the Knobbe IP+ podcast, Knobbe Martens partner Mauricio Uribe speaks with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Legal Officer Oscar Alberto Suárez Bohorquez on the recently announced WIPO...more
In early May, Brazil’s Law No. 14,852/2024 (the “Legal Framework for Games” or the “Framework”) was published. Originating as Bill No. 2796/2021, the legislation provides the necessary legal framework for the burgeoning...more
Nintendo of America’s (Nintendo) recent dispute against emulator developer, Tropic Haze, has highlighted major questions of intellectual property (IP) in the gaming sphere. This alert explores the background behind Nintendo’s...more
Introduction - Welcome to the second issue of The Scramble, presented by Wilson Sonsini’s Electronic Gaming Group. Wilson Sonsini has advised hundreds of clients throughout the gaming sector. The Scramble is an annual...more
Rec Room, Inc. (Rec Room), developer of the eponymous Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) video game Rec Room, has sued one of its players in a Washington federal court for violations of its terms of service arising from the...more
On January 20, 2022, Riot Games sued Suga and Imba, two video game companies based in Asia, in the Central District of California, alleging that the defendants infringed on Riot’s intellectual property by creating a knockoff...more
Host Mary O'Brien is joined by Wilson Sonsini technology transactions partner Barath Chari as she interviews Parth Naidu, founder and CEO at SIDO, an e-sports research group, to discuss the legal issues in e-sports gaming....more
It’s an agreement that fans and content creators have been operating under for years: use Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) as the base system for your podcast, tabletop roleplaying game system (like Pathfinder, or Adventures in...more
Host Mary O'Brien interviews Wilson Sonsini technology transaction attorneys John McGaraghan and Andrew Poling to discuss open source software and considerations for gaming companies. Conversation Highlights: - an...more
As a previous Wilson Sonsini Alert reported, Snail Games USA Inc. and Wildcard Properties LLC (collectively, “Snail”) sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice to Valve Corporation (Valve) in order to...more
Many video games are marketed on the photorealism of their imagery and graphics. However, depending on the depiction, developers and publishers may need to worry about the underlying intellectual property rights in that...more
Digital assets and NFTs being all the rage, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is increasingly receiving trademark applications covering virtual goods and NFTs, the regulatory classification of which is...more
In this episode, Wilson Sonsini Partner Scott McKinney provides a general overview of intellectual property and why it matters. As a gamer himself, Scott delves into the various ways to protect a gaming company – from...more
What’s the difference between an employee and an independent contractor? Does it matter that you hired an engineer for your game in another country? What’s a PIIA? Wilson Sonsini Partners Jason Storck and Barath Chari know...more
Join Wilson Sonsini Partners Aaron Hendelman and Gary Greenstein as they dig into how copyrights and trademarks can implicate games and gaming companies. With conversation on topics such as: whether you could put Starbucks in...more
On April 28, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment, holding that, taking facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, defendant...more
[co-author: Avanthi Cole] Main Quest - How To Tell ROM From Right - As we review some of the more prominent legal issues that impacted the video game industry this past year and consider what 2022 may have in store,...more
[co-authors: Zyie Lin and Cole Smith, FTI Consulting, Inc.] It is no secret that the popularity of both professional and amateur esports and gaming has exploded over the last 18 months – despite (and, perhaps, in part...more
Main Quest - ‘Mint’ Conditions: NFTs and Video Games - Over the course of the past year, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have transformed from a relatively niche product for those in the cryptocurrency sector to an increasingly...more
In this episode of "Lawyers With Game," host Darius Gambino of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Video Gaming and Esports Practice is joined by Leah Leyendecker, also from the firm’s Video Gaming and Esports Practice, along with...more
In this episode of “Lawyers With Game,” host Darius Gambino of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Video Gaming and Esports Practice talks about mobile gaming and esports gambling with colleague Mark Simpson, also in the firm’s...more
Gambling With Graffiti: Using Street Art on Goods or in Advertising Comes With Significant Risks - Graffiti. Guerrilla Art. Street Art. Aerosol Art. Tagging. It appears on the sides of buildings, highway signs, boundary...more