Welcome to Issue 3 of the Dorsey Legal Arcade, a newsletter dedicated to interesting legal trends and court decisions affecting the video game industry. This issue begins with a feature article discussing the potential impact of an apparently mutually beneficial settlement agreement between the National Music Publishers’ Association and video game company Roblox. In addition, Issue 3 summarizes 18 legal decisions that issued from July to December 2021. Those decisions cover a potpourri of legal issues ranging from IP issues such as patent eligibility, pleading standards, infringement, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, to defamation, cheating technologies, arbitration clauses, and more. There is something for everyone in this issue. Issue 3 can be downloaded here. The cases discussed in the feature article and summaries are collected in a document available to download here.
The last several years have been challenging in many ways for the video game industry, but there have also been incredible opportunities for growth. Despite supply shortages, new consoles and computer hardware have pushed the limits of gaming to exciting new levels. At the same time, many companies in the industry are moving quickly toward a more cloud-oriented approach to video games (also known as gaming-as-a-service) that could eventually render home consoles and gaming PCs obsolete. These and other trends often present complex, sometimes novel, legal issues for gaming companies. At Dorsey & Whitney LLP, we are prepared to help video game-related companies of all types and sizes address these issues when they arise. Dorsey has a deep bench of attorneys who are familiar with the video game industry and have experience in IP, labor and employment, privacy and cybersecurity, corporate transactions, international law, and other areas relevant to the video game industry. Regardless of whether your company is a Fortune 100 or early growth stage company, our attorneys are ready to support your business needs. Please see our Video Game Industry Practice Group web page for more information.
The contributors to Volume 1, Issue 3 of the Dorsey Legal Arcade include Video Game Industry Group Co-Chairs Ryan Meyer (IP litigator) and Jeff Cadwell (trademark and copyright attorney); corporate attorney Gloria Park; IP litigators Janelle Elysee, Connor Hansen, and Dylan Harlow; trademark and copyright attorneys Alison Jarzyna and Julia Lisi; patent prosecutors Jonathan Barnard and Mika Ito; and tech commerce attorney Tim Carter.
Thanks for reading Issue 3, and we hope to see you for Issue 4.