Category: Contracts
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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…
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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…
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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…
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TOS or EULA, Which One Do You Need and Why?
When you start up a new game you usually have to agree to some Terms of Service or End User License Agreement before you can start playing. These documents are often abbreviated as TOS or EULA and are a pair of legally binding contracts that you agree to when you start using most software these…
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Understanding Non-Disclosure Agreements in the Game Industry
Non-disclosure agreements can be tempting to protect your game, but it’s important not to use them improperly. There’s a bit of wisdom that goes around game developer circles, especially with new people who think they have the greatest idea for a game in the world. It’s that your ideas are worthless; what matters is how…
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Copyright, Contracts, and Practical Issues of Revenue Share Game Development
There is a very common type of project you’ll regularly see if you browse certain game developer forums and subreddits. You’ll see a lot of posts recruiting for revenue share projects, or rev-share. These are games (or other artistic endeavors) that propose to recruit a team without paying them upfront, but instead, pay them by…
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Collective Works and Joint Works – More on Collaborative Copyright
In my last article, I discussed what a work made for hire is and how to create one. A work made for hire allows the copyright in the work to be owned by someone other than the author of the work. They are created when a contract specifies that the work is a work made…
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Works Made for Hire in Game Dev: Copyright with Collaboration
Works made for hire are a great tool that every solo or small game developer should understand. They let you get around the problem (and also big benefit) that comes with copyright- if you make something, you own the copyright. Very rarely are video games made by just one person, they’re a multidisciplinary art form.…