Author: Jacob Vela
-
How a Copyright Office Decision Makes Video Game Preservation Harder
During the U.S. Copyright Office’s rulemaking session in October 2024, the office announced that they would not grant an exemption from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that would have allowed libraries to remotely share digital access to video games. This is a big blow to video game preservation efforts being made by the Video…
-
Legality of Cloning Games: Dire Decks, Wildcard, and Tetris
A story was recently published by PC Gamer that caught my attention. It concerns someone copying another developer’s game, and got me thinking about the legality of cloning games, or making a direct copy of someone else’s game, recreated from scratch. The story is about a developer by the name of Kindanice who developed a…
-
Understanding The FTC’s New Ban on Noncompete Agreements
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently issued a new major ruling. Their new rule will prohibit most types of noncompete agreements. This is a big deal. I fully expect that this will result in more independant games from new studios that take advantage of their experience working at AAA studios, such as former Riot…
-
The (Possibly) Illegal World of Video Game Emulators: Understanding Yuzu
On March 4, 2024, Tropic Haze LLC, the creators of the Yuzu Switch video game emulator, announced that they would be ceasing development and stopping distribution. This was the result of a lawsuit by Nintendo, which Yuzu’s development team ultimately settled for $2.4 million. Incidentally, this happened not long after Dolphin, a Gamecube emulator, canceled…
-
What Really Changed with Steam’s AI Art Policy? Is Anything Different?
I previously posted about Valve’s stance on AI-generated art on Steam and how their policy – or lack thereof at the time – really doesn’t change anything. It was just Valve not allowing copyright infringement on their platform, and taking a bit of a cautious approach until the law is settled. Since then, Valve issued…
-
You Now Own the Mickey Mouse Copyright. How Did We Get Here and What Does This Mean?
It’s finally happened. The Mickey Mouse copyright has entered the public domain. You, and everyone else, now owns Mickey Mouse – with some caveats. The public domain is a wonderful idea. Artists are allowed to profit from their creations, and then after a period of time the work enters the public domain where it can…
-
Independent Contractors in Game Dev- Why and How to Do it Right
Video games are a multi-disciplinary art form. While there are a few examples of games that are truly developed by a single person, such as Stardew Valley which was entirely developed by Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, most games are created by several people with a variety of talents, since one person typically doesn’t have all the…
-
Three IP Pitfalls to Avoid In Video Game Publishing
Video games cost money to make, and for some developers and their games a publisher is a good way to get that money and get a partner that helps make and market their game. Publishers can be huge for what would otherwise only be a moderately successful game and making a true financial success, as…
-
Influencer Marketing: Three Best Practices for Your Studio
Working with influencers, often called influencer marketing, is an important part of marketing a game. It is part of the paid media category of social media marketing alongside owned media and earned media. Influencers can be used to create buzz about your game that doesn’t come across as a company and instead feels more like…
-
Does Valve’s New Rule Against AI Art in Video Games Change Anything?
UPDATE: I wrote this before Valve issued their new policy surrounding AI-generated assets on Steam. Their policy has since changed in that instead of rejecting games outright that make any use of AI-generated assets, they’re now requiring developers to disclose how AI was used. You can read more about this new rule here. Since the…