Video Game Practice
Interactive entertainment companies often differ from other companies in their business models and their cultures. It is important that their legal counsel understand the subtleties of the interactive entertainment industry and their business goals and values. Our goal is to provide legal advice that anticipates many of the emerging issues in this evolving industry. Our relationships and experience with interactive media developers and online service providers allows us to provide strategic and practical advice that protects the client without undermining the integrity of its products. We recognize the influence legal decisions can hold over game design and we are dedicated to tailoring our services to provide clients with the advice they need to make the best games possible.
Our video game industry team draws upon a variety of legal fields to provide the following services:
- Intellectual property rights clearance, acquisition, disposition, licensing and protection
- Handling employment issues stemming from programmer “crunch time” provisions
- Statutory interpretation and application (FCC, CDA and DMCA)
- First Amendment protection (including obscenity, defamation and privacy issues)
- Structuring and enabling content development, production and distribution for interactive entertainment properties
- Innovative finance structures for game production budgets
- Creating resilient licensing and merchandising agreements
- Performing mergers and acquisitions
- Supporting branded entertainment efforts through legally sound promotions and advertising campaigns
- Minimizing risk and reacting to legal disputes arising from service downtime
- Structuring End-user License Agreements and Terms of Service
- Anticipating tax ramifications of online transactions
- Developing effective User Generated Content policies
- Executing the full range of Web 2.0 transactions
Click here to read more about Sheppard Mullin's Video Game Industry Team.
