IPR IN GAMING INDUSTRY

IPR IN GAMING INDUSTRY

Introduction

The gaming industry has grown and changed at a rate never seen before in the recent years; securing its place as a major factor in the world economy The rise in popularity presents a number of opportunities as well as concerns, especially in the area of intellectual property rights (IPRs).  it is essential for the creators to understand their rights regarding the use, production, and economy. It has transcended boundaries, and the popularity of streaming services like YouTube Gaming, Mixer, and Twitch is growing. With the tremendous growth in industry distribution of their unique works, to avoid infringement issues under the copyright law.

What can be protected under copyright law?

In India, video games may be protected under copyright law since they fall within the ambit of “creative works”. More specifically, different elements or components of the game shall be considered copyrightable works. Although copyright is already granted to the coding of the software, the work created in a video game can also be copyrighted, such as the plot/scenario of the game, characters and individual codes.Furthermore, India's participation in the Berne Convention ensures that video games can be protected as literary and artistic works under Article 2 of the convention. This provides additional international recognition and protection for video game creators, and it is also protected under section 14 of the copyright act 1957 in various categories i.e.

• The characters in the game: The characters of the game can be protected under copyright laws. For ex the character Mario and the game are protected under copyright by NINTENDO. Here not only the character but the game is also protected by NINTENDO.
• The game plays of the game: Gameplay in which the game is played or how the player interacts with the game. It can also be referred as the features of the games such as the plot of the game, the story on which the game is based, the levels and the obstacles involved with game. Copyright of the gameplay gives the right to the creators to build more games based on the same story line and no one can copy the game.
• The sounds (including dialogues) & music involved in the game: Original sounds and music of a game are also protectable under copyright. The music attached to different levels of the game have their own specific copyright protection, such as the sound of the collection of the coin or be it the jumping music all are hence protectable. Therefore, if anyone uses the music falsely without acquiring proper license from the creator then he'll be charged with royalties to the owner.

 

What cannot be protected under copyright law?

 The Theme of the game cannot be copyrighted because, as per the idea versus expression doctrine, the general rule is that only the expression of an idea is copyrightable and not the idea itself. For example, if there is a very important character from a game based on football, then that character can be copyrighted. Still, it would not restrict another football player's character, or a game based on football.

Case law

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd. v. Harmeet Singh

The plaintiff (SONY) manufactured game consoles known as Play Station 3 and also developed various video games for them. The defendant modified the consoles to run pirated versions of a game created by Sony. The software was commonly known as a jailbreak, which broke the encryption created by Sony to make it compatible with pirated games. The defendant charges nominal fees to customers and also purchased the original game and made several copies of it for distribution. Therefore, the court granted the ex-parte injunction, preventing defendant from copying, selling, and distributing modifying the processing unit of the consoles, counterfeit/unlicensed versions of software program/games of Sony which amounted to copyright infringement.

Conclusion

The gaming industry is becoming more and more revolutionary, with new issues emerging related to copyright infringement. It is also worth mentioning that the recognition of the legal status of the authors of these different components is significantly important to development of copyright protection in the industry. While the current statutory system does not have a specific provision, we can see that there are many other ways by which this protection can be granted. Even WIPO has recommended that an international legal framework must be adopted for the legal protection in gaming sector and has also acknowledged the need for legislators to address the concerns arising from online streaming and e-sports events.