Copyright and video games
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The protection of
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
(IP) of
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s through
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
,
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s, and
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
s, shares similar issues with the copyrightability of software as a relatively new area of IP law. The video game industry itself is built on the nature of reusing game concepts from prior games to create new gameplay styles but bounded by illegally direct cloning of existing games, and has made defining intellectual property protections difficult since it is not a fixed medium.


Issues related to intellectual property protection in video games


Game creation

There are multiple aspects about video game creation that have led to different components of the software being copyrighted separately; some cannot be copyrighted at all because of their existence in the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
or
Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...
. Jia Wang, Deputy Director of the Technology Service Center at
Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
’s office in Palo Alto, California, USA, recently told WIPO Magazine that "a game is both a creative and a technical product and IP protects both aspects. There’s a lot of IP involved in the games we develop, from the technical mechanisms that enable and enrich the user’s experience to the storyline and the heroes we create."


Common assets

There is a plethora of
websites A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wikipe ...
which allow creators to 'borrow'
assets In financial accountancy, financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value ...
to implement in-game. The model of granting access and permission to use these assets differs across websites and may range from an upfront payment to a portion of profits (if the assets are used
commercially Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
). This is not an issue with large
video game publishers A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ( ...
(such as EA,
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
, or
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
), but when these self-contained companies create large and detailed worlds, most of the assets they create end up being used only once. This limits the public pool of resources/assets. Assets will often have to be recreated in order to create a new game (or sequel by another company or creator), which is a common complaint of game developers, as it usually costs large amounts of money to create commercially viable assets and makes it difficult for smaller developers to produce games.


Game engines

A
game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...
is a framework which a developer can use to create games. They consist of a
software suite A software suite (also known as an application suite) is a collection of computer programs (application software, or programming software) of related functionality, sharing a similar user interface and the ability to easily exchange data with each ...
with a multitude of components, such as a rendering engine, audio engine,
physics engine A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, such as rigid body dynamics (including collision detection), soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics, of use in the domains of computer gr ...
, and
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
. Companies create these engines for the purpose of allowing developers (with or without charge) to create games. However, because of limitations or certain peculiarities of an engine, some designs or passive-background tasks may occur in a particular way for every game made using that engine. This particular feature (regardless of how central it may be to a game) is essentially the same in all games created with that engine, which takes it outside the scope of copyright. This reasoning would also apply to games made with the same engine which share source code—this would not constitute copying because the games' similarity is inherent to the tools. Large video game houses/publishers can sidestep this limitation by developing in-house engines.


Producers-developers relation

Classically, publishers had the role of securing (or providing) funding for a game, as well as bearing the losses and in many cases, marketing the game. These expenses were generally large and could run as high as tens of millions of dollars for AAA titles. But, with the advent of the Internet and the rise of indie culture, a new wave of financing and distribution technologies has emerged. Sites like
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
and Indiegogo allow for interested consumers to directly contribute towards game development by purchasing the game in advance. Digital distributors like
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
and
GOG.com GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through it ...
removed the costly need for the manufacture and distribution of physical game discs. These innovations have allowed the industry to move away from the standard of intellectual property rights resting with the publisher instead of the developers, as "the IP rights that typically vested with publishers may now be shared with a publisher or owned by a developer or an investment vehicle".


Music creators, voice actors and other contributors

Contributions that do not add directly to the code of the game would not be protected by copyrights for literary works, but these components could be covered if an audiovisual copyright is taken out. As for authorship rights, most contributors are employees and hence their work would be considered "work for hire", belonging not to them, but to their employer. Music is generally not created in-house by game developers; since third parties are hired, this may not result in a work for hire. See U.S court case CCNV v. Reid, on the principle
work for hire A work made for hire (work for hire or WFH), in copyright law in the United States, is a work that is subject to copyright and is created by employees as part of their job or some limited types of works for which all parties agree in writing to the ...
.


Gameplay


Hardware limitations

Some copyrightable elements of a game may be created due to hardware limitations. For example, the classic game ''
Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set ...
'', as originally played as an
arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
, got faster as the player killed more of the onscreen aliens, which freed up system resources.


User input

User input is an essential component of video games, which are
interactive media Interactive media normally refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user's actions by presenting content such as text, moving image, animation, video and audio. Since its early conception, various fo ...
. Though this may not change the intellectual property rights in the base code of the game, some developers/publishers may restrict the rights of players to broadcast their playthrough of the game. The arguments from the other side are that the output of a game is coming in a particular way due to user input and this can reasonably give a player some restricted rights in his/her play through, also known as a
Let's Play A Let's Play (LP) is a video (or screenshots accompanied by text) documenting the playthrough of a video game, often including commentary and/or a camera view of the gamer's face. A Let's Play differs from a video game walkthrough or strateg ...
.


Copyright

Copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
is a protection of
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
that give
exclusive right In Anglo-Saxon law, an exclusive right, or exclusivity, is a de facto, non-tangible prerogative existing in law (that is, the power or, in a wider sense, right) to perform an action or acquire a benefit and to permit or deny others the right to p ...
to the
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
(s) of a
creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, and composition. Legal definitions Creative works require a cre ...
. A
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
may be protected as a creative work. Whether or not a work is copyrighted, and the duration of the copyright may differ between countries, and may also be limited by country specific exceptions, like the
fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...
doctrine in the United States.


International standard

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (The Berne Convention of 1886) is the international treaty which provides the scope for copyright protection of video games. This protection can be drawn from the wide definition of "Literary and Artistic Work" in Article 2 of the Convention, which reads:
The expression "literary and artistic works" shall include every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression, such as books, pamphlets and other writings; lectures, addresses, sermons and other works of the same nature; dramatic or dramatico-musical works; choreographic works and entertainments in dumb show; musical compositions with or without words; cinematographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to cinematography; works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and lithography; photographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to photography; works of applied art; illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science.
This standard treats the whole game as a singular component but does not define what would be covered by such a protection and what would be excluded.
WIPO The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishin ...
had recognized the complexity inherent in copyrighting video games, saying: "Although Article 2 of the Berne Convention provides a solid basis for eligibility for protection of video games by copyright, they are in fact complex works of authorship, potentially composed of multiple copyrighted works." WIPO has also stated in one of its reports that "there is no clear classification of video games and their protection will vary depending on each particular game and the elements that are part of it. In this sense, video games can be treated as computer programs and, thus, are classified as works of authorship; in that case, the source code for a video game is classified as a literary work. If pictorial or graphic authorship predominates, a video game may be classified as a visual arts work. Similarly, if motion picture or audiovisual authorship predominates, a video game may be classified as a motion picture/audiovisual work."


National standards

WIPO has written the following about copyright protection in different countries and jurisdictions: "For some countries, video games are predominantly computer programs, due to the specific nature of the works and their dependency on software. Whereas in other jurisdictions, the complexity of video games implies that they are given a distributive classification. Finally, few countries consider that video games are essentially audiovisual works."


United States

The
Copyright Act of 1976 The Copyright Act of 1976 is a United States copyright law and remains the primary basis of copyright law in the United States, as amended by several later enacted copyright provisions. The Act spells out the basic rights of copyright holders, cod ...
, codified at enumerates the requirements of a copyright in the US, but does not use the term. For a work to be copyrightable under the Copyright Act it must meet the
threshold of originality Threshold may refer to: Architecture * Threshold (door), the sill of a door Media * ''Threshold'' (1981 film) * ''Threshold'' (TV series), an American science fiction drama series produced during 2005-2006 * "Threshold" (''Stargate SG-1''), ...
, be fixed in a medium (whether analog or digital) and the work must be perceivable and reproducible. Regarding copyrights for video games, the
US Copyright office The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that maintains records of copyright registration, including a copyright catalog. It is used by copyright title searchers who are ...
has stated that "a single registration may be made for a computer program and its screen displays...(and) when answering the 'Type of work being registered' question on the application form, the copyright holder shall choose the type most appropriate to the predominant authorship." In other words, US law does not specify a certain protection to be given to a game. The individual(s) registering the game, or their attorneys, must ascertain which category best protect the interests of the author/
assignee An assignment is a legal term used in the context of the law of contract and of property. In both instances, assignment is the process e whereby a person, the ''assignor'', transfers rights or benefits to another, the ''assignee''.For the assig ...
.’ In the United States, the underlying source code, and the game's artistic elements, including art, music, and dialog, can be protected by copyright law. However, gameplay elements of a video game are generally ineligible for copyright; gameplay concepts fall into the
idea–expression distinction The idea–expression distinction or idea–expression dichotomy is a legal doctrine in the United States that limits the scope of copyright protection by differentiating an idea from the expression or manifestation of that idea. Unlike paten ...
that had been codified in the
Copyright Act of 1976 The Copyright Act of 1976 is a United States copyright law and remains the primary basis of copyright law in the United States, as amended by several later enacted copyright provisions. The Act spells out the basic rights of copyright holders, cod ...
, in that copyright cannot be used to protect ideas, but only the expression of those ideas. The United States Copyright Office specifically notes: "Copyright does not protect the idea for a game, its name or title, or the method or methods for playing it. Nor does copyright protect any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in developing, merchandising, or playing a game. Once a game has been made public, nothing in the copyright law prevents others from developing another game based on similar principles." Courts also consider ''
scènes à faire A ''scène à faire'' ( French for "scene to be made" or "scene that must be done"; plural: ''scènes à faire'') is a scene in a book or film which is almost obligatory for a book or film in that genre. In the U.S. it also refers to a principle ...
'' (French for "scenes that must be done") for a particular genre as uncopyrightable; games involving vampires, for example, would be expected to have elements of the vampire drinking blood and driving a stake through the vampire's heart to kill him. It is generally recognized in the video game industry that borrowing mechanics from other games is common practice and often a boon for creating new games, and their widespread use would make them ineligible for legal copyright or patent protection. The United States passed the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or s ...
(DMCA) in 1998 as part of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty. Broadly, the DMCA prohibits hardware and software
anti-circumvention Anti-circumvention refers to laws which prohibit the circumvention of technological barriers for using a digital good in certain ways which the rightsholders do not wish to allow. The requirement for anti-circumvention laws was globalized in 1996 ...
tools, such as reading an encrypted optical disc. For both video game hardware manufacturers and for software developers and publishers, this helps to protect their work from being copied, disassembled, and reincorporated into a clone. However, the DMCA has been problematic for those in
video game preservation Video game preservation is a form of preservation applied to the video game industry that includes, but is not limited to, digital preservation. Such preservation efforts include archiving development source code and art assets, digital copies o ...
that wish to store older games on more permanent and modern systems. As part of the DMCA, the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
adds various exemptions which have included the use of anti-circumvention for museum archival purposes, for example. In present-day
case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a l ...
driven by decisions in the United States legal system, video game copyrights come from two forms. The first is by its
source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
or equivalent, as determined by the 1983 decision in ''
Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp. ''Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp.'', 714 F.2d 1240 ( 3d Cir. 1983), was the first time an appellate level court in the United States held that a computer's BIOS could be protected by copyright. As second impact, this ruling clari ...
'' that software code can be considered a "literary work" and thus subject to copyright protection. The second form is as an audiovisual work, as determined in the 1982 case ''
Stern Electronics, Inc. v. Kaufman ''Stern Electronics Inc. v. Kaufman'', 669 F.2d 852 (2d Cir. 1982),Stern Electronics, Inc. v. Kaufman', 669 F.2d 852 (2nd Cir. 1982) is a legal case in which the United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit held that Omni Video Games violat ...
''; while video games present images and sound that are not in a fixed form, the repetitive use of these in a systematic response to player's actions was sufficient for copyright protections as audiovisual works. In the case of the earlier hardware before programmable computer chips, copyright was also recognized by the impression of software based on the circuit board patterns and features that made games work as a form of fixation, as established by both ''Stern'' and the 1982 case ''Midway Mfg. Co. v. Dirkschneide'', in which Midway successfully sued a company that was reselling repackaged versions of their arcade games ''Pac-Man'', ''Galaxian'' and ''Rally-X''. Up until 2012, U.S. courts were reluctant to find for copyright infringement of clones. Driving case law in the United States was principally through the case ''Atari, Inc. v. Amusement World, Inc.'' (547 F. Supp. 222, 1982). Atari had sued Amusement World claiming that its video game ''Meteors'' violated their copyright on ''
Asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
''. The court did find twenty-two similarities between the two games, but ruled against Atari's claims, citing these elements as ''scènes à faire'' for games about shooting at asteroids. The case established that "look and feel" of a game could not easily be protected. Attorney Stephen C. McArthur, writing for ''
Gamasutra ''Game Developer'', known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021, is a website founded in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine '' Gam ...
'', said that during this period, courts opted to take a more lax view to balance innovation in the industry and prevent overzealous copyright protection that could have one company claim copyright on an entire genre of games. At best, copyright holders could challenge clones by threatening
cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...
letters, or on other intellectual property rights such as trademarks.


=Shifts since 2012

= A shift in legal options for developers to challenge clones arose from the 2012 federal New Jersey district court decision in ''
Tetris Holding, LLC v. Xio Interactive, Inc. ''Tetris Holding, LLC v. Xio Interactive, Inc.'', 863 F.Supp.2d 394 (D.N.J. 2012), was a 2012 American legal case related to copyright of video games, confirming that a game's look and feel can be protected under copyright law. Tetris Holding is ...
'' that ruled in favor of
The Tetris Company The Tetris Company, Inc. (TTC) is based in Nevada and is owned by Henk Rogers, Alexey Pajitnov and Blue Planet Software. The company is the exclusive licensee of Tetris Holding LLC, the company that owns Tetris rights worldwide. It licenses the ...
, the licensees of the ''Tetris'' copyright, over the clone ''Mino'', developed by Xio Interactive, which used the same gameplay as ''Tetris'' but with different art assets. The developers for ''Mino'' has cited in their defense that they only used the uncopyrightable gameplay elements of ''Tetris'' in ''Mino''. The court ruled that copyright law was in favor of the Tetris Company's claim, as the gameplay was copied without changes, and while the art assets were new, the "look and feel" of ''Mino'' could be easily confused for that of ''Tetris''. The court also recognized that since the time ''Tetris'' had been released and when ''Mino'' was published, there was enough new technology in graphics that ''Mino'' could have added new forms of expression to the base gameplay to better distinguish from the idea of ''Tetris'', such as how to display the tetraminos or the animation of how they fell, but instead copied very closely what ''Tetris'' had done, thus making it more likely a copyright violation. While only a district court decision and not binding outside of New Jersey, this served as case law for other developers to fend off "look-and-feel" clones. The same reasoning was found in a similar case that was occurring nearly simultaneously with the ''Tetris'' decision, in which SpryFox LLC, the developers of the mobile game ''
Triple Town ''Triple Town'' is a freemium strategy puzzle video game with city-building elements. It is available for social networks and mobile devices and was developed by Seattle-based Spry Fox. The casual game was originally released for the Amazon Ki ...
'', successfully defended their game from a clone, ''Yeti Town'', developed by 6Waves, through court settlement after the judge gave initially rulings in favor of SpryFox. These rulings suggested that there was copyright protection on the gameplay mechanics despite drastic differences in the games' art assets, though other factors, such as prior agreements between SpryFox and 6Waves, may have also been involved. Both the ''Tetris'' and ''Triple Town'' cases have established new but limited case law on "look and feel" that can be used to challenge video game clones in court.


= Idea/expression distinction

= There is a long established Copyright principle called the
idea–expression distinction The idea–expression distinction or idea–expression dichotomy is a legal doctrine in the United States that limits the scope of copyright protection by differentiating an idea from the expression or manifestation of that idea. Unlike paten ...
, where Copyright is meant to protect a creator’s unique expression, without giving anyone a
monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
on a broader idea. The US Copyright Office specifically states that “Copyright does not protect the idea for a game, its name or title, or the method or methods for playing it. Nor does copyright protect any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in developing, merchandising, or playing a game.” The idea-expression distinction is related to other Copyright principles and doctrines. One is the merger doctrine, where an idea can only be expressed in one way. The courts will not recognize Copyright protection in any expression that is inseparable from a larger idea, since it would effectively grant a monopoly over that idea. Another related concept is ''
scènes à faire A ''scène à faire'' ( French for "scene to be made" or "scene that must be done"; plural: ''scènes à faire'') is a scene in a book or film which is almost obligatory for a book or film in that genre. In the U.S. it also refers to a principle ...
'' (French for "scenes to be made"), where certain
generic Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...
elements are considered essential to a fictional setting, and should not eligible for Copyright protection. For example, the necessity of a baseball in a baseball game would be uncopyrightable as a ''scènes à faire''. Courts have applied the idea-expression distinction to numerous copyright disputes, starting with the 1981 case
Atari v. Amusement World ''Atari, Inc. v. Amusement World, Inc''., 547 F.Supp. 222 (D. Md. Nov. 27, 1981) is a legal case in which the United States District Court for the District of Maryland held that Amusement World's arcade game ''Meteors'' did not violate Atari' ...
. Despite finding that ''Meteors'' copied the idea for
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
’s ''Asteroids'' game, the court ruled that none of the similarities were protected by copyright, since these elements were “unavoidable” in making a game about “a spaceship combatting space rocks”. Atari v. Philips was another early ruling, where courts granted a preliminary
injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...
to stop sales of '' K.C. Munchkin!'' due to its similarities with ''
Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
.'' Later courts have ruled that many game elements cannot be protected by copyright. In both
Data East USA, Inc. v. Epyx, Inc. ''Data East USA, Inc. v. Epyx, Inc.'' 862 F.2d 204, 9 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1322 (9th Cir. 1988) was a court case between two video game manufacturers, where Data East claimed that their copyright in ''Karate Champ'' was infringed by '' World Karate ...
and Capcom U.S.A. Inc. v. Data East Corp., the courts did not recognize copyright protection in many game mechanics and character designs that were seen as essential to creating a
martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
themed
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
. In later cases such as
Tetris Holding, LLC v. Xio Interactive, Inc. ''Tetris Holding, LLC v. Xio Interactive, Inc.'', 863 F.Supp.2d 394 (D.N.J. 2012), was a 2012 American legal case related to copyright of video games, confirming that a game's look and feel can be protected under copyright law. Tetris Holding is ...
and
Spry Fox, LLC v. Lolapps, Inc. ''Spry Fox, LLC v. Lolapps, Inc.'', No. 2:12-cv-00147 (W.D. Wash., 2012), was a court case between two video game developers, where Spry Fox alleged that the game ''Yeti Town'', developed by 6waves Lolapps, Copyright infringement, infringed on ...
, courts have recognized copyright infringement where there is evidence that one game copied another’s unique expression, more than just imitating the general idea.


= Substantial similarity test

= In Atari v. North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corp. (1982) the 7th Circuit wrote that "no plagiarist can excuse the wrong by showing how much of his work he did not pirate." This was said in the context of the fact that, "while a game is not protectable by copyright as such, this kind of work of authorship is protectable at least to a limited extent as long as the particular form in which it is expressed provides something new or additional over the idea" and that while two works may not be the same in many regards, if parts/components of the second work or wholly or substantially copied or like the first work, it is copyright infringement.


= Subtractive approach test

= '' Nichols v. Universal Pictures'' laid out the following test for copyrighted material which contains both copyrightable and public domain material. The case lays down 3 steps to be followed to ascertain copying: # The allegedly infringed work is analyzed to determine the parts that are protected, # The unprotected parts are subtracted, and # The fact finder examines significant similarities between what remains of the allegedly infringed work and the allegedly infringing work. This subtractive approach is the preferred test by courts in the US (save the
9th Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...
),


= Abstraction-filtration-comparison test

= This test, developed in '' Computer Associates International, Inc. v. Altai, Inc. (1992)'' was specifically aimed at software infringement and hence is a better fit for what a court is likely to apply with regards video games. The test, like the subtractive test before it, lays down 3 steps: # ''Abstraction'' – Ascertain each level of abstraction. # ''Filtration'' – Identify factors at each level that are not deserving of protection (ideas, processes, those dictated by efficiency or required for external compatibility, those taken from the public domain, etc.) and subtract them from consideration. # ''Comparison'' – Compare the remaining components for infringement. The Abstraction-filtration-comparison test was notably used in identify copyright violations in video games in ''
Tetris Holding, LLC v. Xio Interactive, Inc. ''Tetris Holding, LLC v. Xio Interactive, Inc.'', 863 F.Supp.2d 394 (D.N.J. 2012), was a 2012 American legal case related to copyright of video games, confirming that a game's look and feel can be protected under copyright law. Tetris Holding is ...
'', which was used to find against a clone of ''
Tetris ''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the approp ...
'' due to substantial similarly in the broad look and feel of the game.


= Authorship

= In the U.S, corporations can be the author of an audiovisual work, which tends to be the most commonly used classification for a video game. In this case, the hiring corporation, rather than employees or other contributors, would be considered the author. Unlike European law, which has very strong "Moral Right Protections", moral rights in American law are limited to works of visual arts as defined by Section 101 of the U.S. Copyright Act
Act
). This definition excludes "motion pictures or other audiovisual works" or any works made for hire. There are developments in this field due to the advancement of technology as well. Services like '
Steam Workshop Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront by Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to distributing and offering third ...
' allows for players to use tools provided by the game developer to add to the game in some manner. Usually, since these players are not employees copyright of their works usually resides with them.


India

The
Indian Copyright Act The Copyright Act 1957 as amended governs the subject of copyright law in India. The Act is applicable from 21 January 1958. The history of copyright law in India can be traced back to its colonial era under the British Empire. The Copyright Act 19 ...
of 1975, does not address video games specifically. Unlike the US, India has not publicly listed under what categorization video game makers should seek protection under. India follows the Anglo-American tradition of allowing corporate persons to hold copyrights. The Indian law has an exhaustive definition of the phrase "Artistic Work" under Chapter 1, Section 2(c) of the Copyrights Act, which states that Artistic Work is "(i) a painting, a sculpture, a drawing, an engraving or a photograph, whether or not any such work possesses artistic quality; (ii) a work of architecture; and (iii) any other work of artistic craftsmanship." Due to the specificity of the
statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
, the law on video games in India has developed more on the basis of business practice. This has led to developers and publishers seeking protection as "cinematograph works". Under Section 2 of the act, a "cinematograph film" means "any work of visual recording on any medium produced through a process from which a moving image may be produced by any means and includes a sound recording accompanying such visual recording and cinematograph shall be construed as including any work produced by any process analogous to cinematography including video films." The phrase "process analogous to cinematography" has a non-exhaustive list attached, meaning that part of the definition is open-ended enough to allow for video games to be covered, but there is no jurisprudence on this issue.) The law in India does clearly state that a "literary work" includes computer programs and hence by extension, the source code of video games can be protected as software or literary work. Unlike the US, in India, different aspects of a game, like the art, code, gameplay mechanics etc. are copyrightable independently. This understanding is furthered by Section 17 of the Indian Copyright Act which states that the person arranging for all components of a work to come together into a cohesive whole would be the one to hold the copyright in the work, only if all works are created under a contract of service as stated in Section 17 (c):
"In the case of a work made in the course of the author's employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship (...) the employer shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein"
Under this rule, the authorship of creative contributions to a game that are made by individuals outside of the developers/publishers employment reside with the original creator, unless the rights are signed over to the developer. Contributors like
musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
s and
lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...
s, having once consented to have their works in a cinematograph work, can no longer restrict or object to the enjoyment of the performer’s rights by the producer but the original author/creator shall retain the right to receive royalties on public/commercial use of his/her work, as per Section 38 A (2) of the Indian Copyright Act. "It is unclear whether this new provision will affect video game authors due to the lack of qualification of this kind of work of authorship; this amendment to the Indian Copyright Act must, therefore, be further interpreted in this context...(it) must be interpreted by Indian courts in order to determine if it will apply to video game contributors and whether they shall have the right to receive royalties for the exploitation of their works." The landmark case for deciding on infringement cases in India is '' R.G. Anand'', which laid out the following test: if "the viewer after having read or seen both the works is clearly of the opinion and gets an unmistakable impression that the subsequent work appears to be a copy of the original" then the copyright has been infringed.


United Kingdom

Copyright law in the United Kingdom is set by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988c 48, also known as the CDPA, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received Royal Assent on 15 November 1988. It reformulates almost completely the statutory basis of copyright law ( ...
, but this does not specifically account for video games under any of the works eligible for copyright. Instead, video games are considered protected by copyright in their parts. The computer code or other fixed medium is considered copyrightable, and the game's presentation can be copyrighted as a literary work or dramatic work, while elements like character design, art and sound and music can also be copyrighted. Other facets, like the look and feel or game mechanics, are not considered eligible for copyrightable.


European Union

The European Union (EU) as a body of member nations sets policies for copyright and other intellectual property protections that are then to be supported by laws passed at the national levels, allowing individual nations to include additional restrictions within the EU directives. Multiple EU directives have been issued related to copyright that affect video games, but at the core, the
Computer Programs Directive The European Union Computer Programs Directive controls the legal protection of computer programs under the copyright law of the European Union. It was issued under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. The most recent versio ...
of 1991 provide for copyright protection of video games in their source code and all its constituent parts in its fixed format, such as on an optical disc or printed circuit. The audio, visual and other creative elements of a game themselves are not directly covered by any EU directive, but have been enshrined in national laws as a result of the Berne Convention of which the EU and its member states are part of, with video games either expressly called out as cinematographic works or more broadly under audiovisual works. At least one case at the
European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...
has ruled similarly to the United States that ideas like gameplay concepts cannot be copyrighted but it is their form of expression that can merit copyrightability. Patents on software and video games cannot be easily obtained in the European Union, unless it can be demonstrated that there is a significant technical effect beyond the interaction of the hardware and the software.


Japan

Japan's copyright laws are similar to the United States in that a form of artistic expression in a fixed medium is sufficient for copyright protection. Japan is also a member of the
Berne convention The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of leg ...
. Video games, and computer code in general, are considered to fall under copyright as they are a "work of authorship" as "a production in which thoughts or emotions are expressed in a creative way and which falls in the literary, scientific, artistic or musical domain." Video games being eligible for copyrights in the same manner as cinematic works were established through three cases related to video game clones from 1982 to 1984, in which Japan's courted ruled, collectively, that the act of storing data into a computer's
read-only memory Read-only memory (ROM) is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be electronically modified after the manufacture of the memory device. Read-only memory is useful for storing sof ...
(ROM) constitutes copying and thus unauthorized copies can be violations of copyright, that similarly hardware circuitry can carry software information and is also copyrightable, and that video games can contain artistic expression that is protected by copyright. These cases gave video games stronger protections for copyright than before, as Japan's courts typically put more onus on plaintiffs in copyright infringement cases to demonstrate similarity, and the
fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...
allowances tended to be more lax. As part of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, Japan amended its copyright laws in 1999 to prohibit hardware and software anti-circumvention devices, basing its language on the United States' own DMCA. One issue that has affected the rerelease of older games in Japan are harsh copyright laws that would come into play if there was any possible dispute over possible copyright ownership. To republish a work, the publisher must have an agreement with the copyright owner, which for these older games may involve individuals that have died or moved to different fields and are difficult to track down. A new proposed law in 2021 would create a central repository for copyright management for such works across all media where the copyright owner is unclear and take responsibility for managing future rights issues. This would allow affected games to be republished without having to contact their original creators if they cannot be found.


China

China's legal framework to copyright does recognize individual elements video games as an eligible work for copyrightability with individual creative assets as being copyrightable, but does not have similar provisions as most other nations to recognize the fixed form of publication as also having copyright nor the work as a whole having copyright like a cinematographic work. These last elements have in part enabled enabled widespread copyright theft within the country, not just of video games but other works. The relatively lax copyright rules enables clones based on reskinning an existing game, replacing the art assets with new ones but otherwise not changing the game's code. China's copyright code also makes it difficult to take action on modification of copyrighted characters as these are not explicitly written into Chinese law, which has allowed widespread unlicensed use of others' intellectual property in Chinese games. Though the government has introduced more stringent copyright laws in recent years and harsher penalties for violations, video game clones still persist in China. One of the first major copyright cases over a video game in China was filed in 2007 by
Nexon Nexon Co., Ltd. is a global video game publisher, listed in Japan, that specializes in online Virtual World games for PCs, consoles and mobile. Nexon is one of the world’s ten largest interactive game companies based on market capitalization a ...
against
Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
, asserting that Tencent's ''QQ Tang'' had copied their ''Pop Tag''. The court's decision in favor of Tencent fixed two concepts that remained part of case law: access to the original game, and whether there was substantial similarity in the claimed elements that violated copyright. The case also established that in considering copyrights of the individual elements, there must be a
threshold of originality Threshold may refer to: Architecture * Threshold (door), the sill of a door Media * ''Threshold'' (1981 film) * ''Threshold'' (TV series), an American science fiction drama series produced during 2005-2006 * "Threshold" (''Stargate SG-1''), ...
to be copyrightable. A second key case in 2018 occurred when Woniu Technology, the creators of ''Taiji Panda'', sued Tianxiang Company over their mobile game ''Hua Qian Gu'' as a reskinned clone of ''Taija Panda''. While Tianxiang attempted to argue that the overall game could not be copyrighted, the court established precedence that a video game fell into the category of cinematographic works, and that the expression of gameplay can be copyrighted, establishing this principle in case law.


Patents

Patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s are frequently used to protect hardware consoles from cloning. Though patents do not cover elements like the form and shape of a console, they can be used to protect the internal hardware and electronic components, as Magnavox had used at the onset of the arcade game and home console clones. Notably, many of the patents for the Famicom and NES expired in 2003 and 2005, respectively, leading to additional grey market hardware clones within a short time. However, Nintendo had built other intellectual property protection into their system, specifically the 10NES lock-out system, covered by copyright law, that would allow only authorized games to be played on their hardware. Less frequently, patents have been used to protect video game software elements. Notably,
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
had filed a 1998 United States patent for the gameplay concepts in ''
Crazy Taxi ''Crazy Taxi'' is a series of racing video games that was developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega. The first game appeared in arcades in 1999 and was very successful, prompting Sega to port the arcade version to their Dreamcast console ...
''. The company subsequently sued
Fox Interactive Fox Interactive was an American video game publisher based in Los Angeles, California. The company published games based on 20th Century Fox properties, yet also published several original titles, such as '' Croc: Legend of the Gobbos''. History ...
for
patent infringement Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may v ...
over their title '' The Simpsons: Road Rage'', citing that the latter game was developed to "deliberately copy and imitate" the ''Crazy Taxi'' game. The case was ultimately settled out of court. Other known examples of gameplay patents include those for
minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than th ...
s on loading screens filed by
Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...
, the dialog choice wheel used in ''
Mass Effect ''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn and Preston Watamaniuk. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the known univers ...
'' games by
Bioware BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...
, the ''katamari'' of the ''
Katamari Damacy () is a third-person puzzle-action video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan in March 2004 and in North America in September 2004. Designer Keita Takahashi struggled to pitch the game to Namco' ...
'' games from
Bandai Namco also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco on S ...
, and the Nemesis system from '' Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor'' by
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE; also known as Warner Bros. Games or WB Games) is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California, and part of the newly-formed Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment unit of ...
.


Trademarks

Another approach some companies have used to prevent clones is via
trademarks A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
as to prevent clones and knockoffs. Notably,
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
have gotten a United States trademark on the word "Candy" in the area of video games to protect clones and player confusion for their game '' Candy Crush Saga''. They have also sought to block the use of the word "Saga" in the trademark filing of ''
The Banner Saga ''The Banner Saga'' is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Stoic Studio and published by Versus Evil. It was released for personal computers and mobile phones in 2014, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016 and for Nintendo Switch in ...
'' for similar reasons, despite the games having no common elements. Within the European Union, one can register for a
European Union trade mark A European Union trade mark or EU trade mark (abbreviated EUTM; named ''Community Trade Mark'' (''CTM'') until 23 March 2016) is a trade mark which is pending registration or has been registered in the European Union as a whole (rather than on a na ...
that includes multimedia elements, which would allow a developer or publisher to trademark a specific gameplay element that is novel from past games, providing a different route for them to protect their work from cloning. For example,
Rebellion Developments Rebellion Developments Limited is a British video game developer based in Oxford, England. Founded by Jason and Chris Kingsley in December 1992, the company is best known for its ''Sniper Elite'' series and multiple games in the ''Alien vs. Pre ...
filed to register its "Kill Cam" mechanic as a trademark from its series ''
Sniper Elite ''Sniper Elite'' is a tactical shooter video game series developed by Rebellion Developments. It is a third-person tactical shooter that emphasises a less direct approach to combat, encouraging the player as a sniper to use stealth and keep ...
'' in October 2017, though as of February 2018, the application is still being reviewed.


Licensing

A related aspect of video games and intellectual property is the
licensing A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
of other properties for use within the video game. This can come in many potential forms: * Some games are developed as
tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prope ...
s to the release of another property as to help with that property's marketing and promotion, such as '' Superman 64'' which was used as a tie-in to '' Superman: The Animated Series'' In other cases, games may simply used the licensed setting outside of the tie-in function, such as in the case of '' Batman: Arkham Asylum''. * Many games incorporate existing contemporary music from famous bands and musicians, each which must be licensed individuals. This is common for most
rhythm games Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to press ...
like ''
Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of music rhythm game video games first released in November 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Player ...
'', as well as a common feature in ''
Grand Theft Auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones (video game developer), David Jones and Mike Dailly (game designer), Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan Hous ...
'' and various
GTA clones A ''Grand Theft Auto'' clone (often shortened to ''GTA'' clone) is a subgenre of open world action-adventure video games, characterized by their likeness to the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series in either gameplay, or overall design. In these types ...
for music played on an in-game car radio station. * Various crossover games bring in characters, settings and other elements from other video games commonly outside of the publisher's IP realm, such as in the case of the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series. This type of licensing tends to pose an issue for the retention and preservation of video games particular on digital download services. Publisher can sometimes secure perpetual rights to a licensed property, such as in the case of
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...
with the name
Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...
. Otherwise, with limited-time licenses, publishers are generally required to remove the game from sale at the end of that term, though existing owners of the game often still have rights to redownload and use the game as necessary. For example, the ''
Forza Motorsport ''Forza Motorsport'' is a 2005 simulation racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox gaming system. The word ''Forza'' is Italian for strength. The game is the first installment in the ...
'' series includes realistic models of numerous existing car models which are licensed from the car manufacturers. These licensing terms are limited, requiring publisher Microsoft to pull the game from sale roughly four years after release; Microsoft has generally established a development model where as the last iteration of ''Forza'' is about to be pulled, the next version, with a fresh start on the car licenses, was released. In one predominate example, ''
Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the ...
'' had to update the game for all digital owners to remove songs on the soundtrack which their ten-year license had expired.


See also

*
Digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. ...
*
Mod (video games) Video game modding (short for "modification") is the process of alteration by players or fans of one or more aspects of a video game, such as how it looks or behaves, and is a sub-discipline of general modding. Mods may range from small changes an ...
*
Video game art Video game art is a specialized form of computer art employing video games as the artistic medium. Video game art often involves the use of patched or modified video games or the repurposing of existing games or game structures, however it re ...
, a form of art which uses video games as the artistic medium


References

{{Video game copyright Copyright law