"Legal Disputes in the Game Industry Expected to Increase Gradually"

Forming a Professional Team and Strengthening Personnel

Law firm experts predict that game-related cases will increase for the time being as the government continues to impose stringent regulations on the gaming industry and intellectual property disputes among game companies are spreading. Accordingly, major law firms are forming specialized teams and reinforcing their personnel, with Law Firm Hwawoo launching the first-ever game center among law firms.

Major Law Firms Form and Expand Specialized Teams for Gaming

Kim & Chang Law Office (Managing Partner Jung Kyesung) advises on legal issues related to mobile games, PC games, and console games for publishers, developers, and game platforms through its gaming, resort, and entertainment group. Kim & Chang represented NCSoft in a lawsuit seeking injunction and damages against a game company that copied key components of Lineage M to produce and service a game, winning the case.

[Image source=Beomryul Newspaper]

Kwangjang Law Firm (Managing Partner Kim Sanggon) provides legal advice not only on business operations of game companies such as game sales, licensing, game development contracts, and mergers and acquisitions but also on legal issues within the gaming industry. Kwangjang represented King.com, the developer of 'Farm Heroes Saga,' in a copyright infringement injunction and damages lawsuit against a domestic service provider of Forest Mania, leading to a victory. This case was recorded as the first instance where the Supreme Court recognized copyright infringement related to game rules.

Taepyungyang Law Firm (Managing Partner Lee Joonki) recently formed a 'Game & Business Team' to respond to regulations in the gaming industry. The team handles the entire gaming industry, including consulting on the integration of new technologies such as metaverse, NFT, and artificial intelligence with gaming. Recently, they have been representing Nexon Korea in copyright infringement injunction and damages lawsuits against operators of illegal private servers.

Sejong Law Firm (Managing Partner Oh Jonghan) established a game team using an 'agile' approach for prompt and continuous response to legal issues in the gaming industry. They advise on various disputes including IP-related conflicts such as game copyright infringement, disputes between publishers and developers, and between game companies and users. Sejong is representing Com2uS in the appellate trial concerning users' complaints about probability-type item errors. They also advise domestic game companies preparing to enter overseas markets to avoid domestic P2E regulations.

Yulchon Law Firm (Managing Partner Kang Seokhoon) operates a gaming industry team composed of experts from various fields. Yulchon focuses on IP litigation and compliance work. Early last year, they represented the Game Rating and Administration Committee in two lawsuits seeking cancellation of classification decisions for P2E (Play to Earn) games, leading to victories.

Jipyung Law Firm (Managing Partner Kim Jihyung) provides legal services through its game and e-sports team, including game IP acquisition and management, investment and publishing contract advice, response to game plagiarism, rights and equity M&A, e-sports team management and player transfers, and sponsorship dispute resolution.

Barun Law Firm (Managing Partner Park Jaepil) offers consulting on legal regulations in the gaming industry within its IP group and handles IP dispute litigation.

Daeryuk Aju Law Firm (Managing Partner Lee Kyucheol) conducts various IP litigation and advisory services, including disputes related to copyrights and unfair competition acts concerning game content, through its entertainment team.

Dongin Law Firm (Managing Partner Noh Sanggyun) provides gaming-related legal services through its game, sports, and entertainment team. They focus on rating classification of game content, regulation-related responses concerning cyber money and game items, participation in legislative processes, and consulting on game production and distribution.

"Legal Issues Will Increase with the Introduction of New Technologies"

Experts believe that new types of game copyright disputes will increase and that legal regulations related to the introduction of new technologies will likely be reflected in game regulatory policies. Recently, game companies have been integrating new technologies into games, such as releasing P2E games by combining blockchain technology with existing popular games or issuing their own coins. Legal disputes are also increasing. The 'Wemix Coin Delisting Case' that occurred in 2022 is a representative example.

Gwak Jaewoo (45, Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 39), a lawyer at Kwangjang, said, "Digital content and live services utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and cloud technology are being introduced into games, and users can easily create their own content or develop mods within games, which can lead to complex legal issues related to content ownership and copyright." He added, "There is also a high possibility of cross-border copyright disputes arising from regulatory and legal differences between countries in the global market."

Choi Junggyu (49, Class 36), a lawyer at Jipyung, pointed out, "The game market is currently a de facto perfectly competitive market, with enormous costs and efforts involved in development and increasingly shorter game lifecycles. Unlike other copyrighted works, the discretion of the judiciary in judging similarity and approach can be significant, which is a basis for the spread of copyright infringement cases." However, Lee Wonseok (43, Class 40), a lawyer at Yulchon, predicted, "Companies are expected to strengthen compliance from an IP perspective, so the rate of increase in disputes will eventually slow down at some point."

Legal Reporters Hansuhyun & Hong Yunji

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.