Luxury goods company Gucci recently bought a plot of LAND in the Sandbox Game, an Ethereum-based play-to-earn game. This LAND is a virtual real estate plot (in the form of an NFT or non-fungible token) where Gucci plans to sell in-game clothing and collectibles. As futuristic as this seems, Gucci is not the only major…
Tag: intellectual property law
Business Law Essentials for the Modern Video Game Company.
As a game developer, unless you are working on the new Ace Attorney game, law and lawyers are the last thing on your mind. But no matter how high-tech, innovative, and cutting-edge your product, video games and mobile apps are still a business and there are industry-specific legal areas to consider. Doing it right will…
Who Owns Your Invention? The Concepts and Inventions Assignment Clause, Work-For-Hire, and the Shop Right Doctrine.
In the modern employment context, there are plenty of on-boarding documents, including a handbook, that the employee may be asked to sign as part of getting hired. Lurking in these pages of seemingly innocuous workplace policies may be critical obligations and restrictions that significantly restrict the employee’s rights. For example, non-compete and non-solicitation clauses are…
Your Twitch Channel is Worth How Much? Protect Your Right of Publicity in the 21st Century.
Did you know that celebrities, professional athletes, actors, and other famous people have a valuable property right in their very persona? That property right is called the “right of publicity” and extends to gaming, particularly as streaming platforms like Twitch allow gamers to develop their own brand and following. There is no question that internet…
Beer, the Lions, and Intellectual Property: An Updated Cautionary Thanksgiving Tale.
Update: Since I originally published this article, Eastern Market Brewing has resolved its issues with Barry Sanders and no longer uses his likeness on the beer can. Same Old Lager is available again, and instead of a Lions player wearing the number 20, the brewery’s mascot graces the can against a pixilated, video-game style football…