HHR New Media, Entertainment and Technology Group

This first-of-a-kind, publicly-available, law firm-hosted, CLE-accredited Webinar will focus on the critical issues that are confronted in game transactions. Our team will address issues such as:

• Structuring relationships between developers and publishers and the ownership issues that arise in development agreements, including work-for-hire, joint ownership and cross-licensing issues;
• Protecting against developer default or insolvency, including the pros and cons of source code escrow arrangements and the applicability of Section 365(n) of the Bankruptcy Code;
• How clearances and consents have become critically important with the increased incorporation in games of real world elements (cities, buildings, people, etc.) and third party IP (e.g. music, video clips, characters, logos, etc.), with an examination of recent case law (Kirby v. Sega and Grand Theft Auto/Pig Pen); and
• Strategies to maximize revenues from online and mobile games, including sponsored exclusive features and content, “in-game” ads, syndicated games, and tiered subscriptions.

The one-hour Webinar will also feature “live chat” functionality to enable viewers to ask questions and comment on the presentation in real-time.  Presentation materials will be available for download.

The Webinar will be held on September 16, 2009 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm EDT.  To register, click here.

Joint ownership of copyrights is a tricky issue in any transaction.  It is one confronted regularly in digital media deals where rights in the underlying content are often owned by more than one person and licenses are granted retroactively.  Recent decisions in the Second and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have caused tremendous concern about the eroding rights of copyright co-owners.  In Davis v. Blige, the Second Circuit held that copyright co-owners cannot unilaterally issue retroactive licenses.  And in Sybersound v. UAV Corp., , the Ninth Circuit held that a copyright co-owner cannot grant an exclusive license without the consent of all the other co-owners.  The combined effect of these decisions has been described as the “death of divisibility” in copyright law.  These decisions threaten to pose considerable difficulties for anyone looking to acquire rights in a copyright that is owned by more than one individual.     Continue Reading »