Lawyer for video game studios | IP and publishing

Intellectual property and trade mark registration for video games

A video game is not one work: it is a bundle of works that travel down different legal routes.

Code is not protected in the same way as the soundtrack, nor a trade mark in the same way as a character. The job is not to register for the sake of registering, but to draw up a map of ownership (which asset, whose, since when and evidenced by which document) that holds up the day you have to enforce it. That same map is the first thing a publisher reviews in due diligence and the first thing an investor asks for before putting money in, so getting it in order early is rarely time wasted.

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National, European Union and international trade mark registration
Copyright over art, music, lore and narrative
Protection of the code, the engine and in-house tools
Chain of ownership as regards freelancers and external collaborators
Trade secrets and know-how
Action against copies, clones and unauthorised uses

Publishing, co-development and licensing contracts

Most of the contracts that reach a studio are drafted by the other side and written from their position.

That does not make them unacceptable, but it does mean reading them backwards: what happens if the game slips, if the publisher is acquired, if the project is cancelled halfway, or if sales never cover the advance. We work in both directions: we draft the agreements the studio needs in order to operate and we review the ones it receives before signing, separating what is standard in the sector, what is negotiable and what you should not sign as it stands.

CONTRACTS●

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Publishing and distribution agreements
Co-development and co-production
Licensing and assignment of rights (third-party IP, engines, middleware)
Freelancers, work for hire and external collaborators
Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and letters of intent
Localisation, porting and console release
Employment contracts for the team

Negotiating deals with publishers and investors

THE TABLE●

The contract is the document; the negotiation is what decides what that document says.

Here we come into the process, not just the paperwork. We prepare your position with you (which points are non-negotiable, which can be given up and in exchange for what, and where the line is beyond which the deal stops making economic sense), we take part in the conversations if you want us in the room, and we close by checking that the final version reflects what was agreed and not a wording that merely resembles it.

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Term sheets and letters of intent
Revenue share, advances and recoupment
Creative control and decision rights
Milestones, deliverables and penalties
Reversion of rights and exit clauses
Exclusivity, platforms and territories
Due diligence on third-party IP

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Incorporating studios, shareholders agreements and onboarding investors

Two people making a game together already have a split, even if they have never written it down.

The only question is whether they choose it or the law applies one by default. We step in from incorporation through to bringing investors on board, with one constant criterion: the structure has to support the studio’s growth, not make it more expensive.

PARTNERS●

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Incorporation and articles of association
Shareholders agreement and vesting
Contributing the intellectual property to the company
Capital increases and onboarding investors
Incentive plans and phantom shares for the team
Shareholder exits and restructurings

Litigation over plagiarism, intellectual property and breach of contract

Not every firm advising on video games ever sets foot in a courtroom. We do.

The difference is practical: when the other side knows the matter may end up before a judge, the earlier stage plays out differently. Before suing we run the full assessment (procedural route, available evidence, realistic timescales, cost and expected recovery) and give it to you in writing, including when the conclusion is that litigating is not worth it. And if it is worth it, we carry the case to the end, not just to the defence.

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Intellectual property infringement and plagiarism
Breach and termination of contracts
Recovery of unpaid invoices and royalties
Defence against third-party claims and abusive takedowns
Interim injunctions and pre-action notices

Ongoing legal counsel

ALWAYS●

The studio’s outsourced legal department.

Availability for day-to-day questions and periodic review of the contractual documentation. It includes drafting and maintaining the legal texts on your website and online store (legal notice, privacy policy, cookie policy and terms of sale), which are mandatory and tend to fall out of date just before somebody looks at them.

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Day-to-day questions with ongoing availability
Periodic review of contracts and documentation
Legal texts for website and store: legal notice, privacy, cookies, terms of sale and EULA
GDPR and the Spanish Data Protection Act applied to a digital product
Processing of minors’ data and age verification
Extended cover in civil, commercial and employment matters

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