On April 19, 2024, after a highly publicized trial, the jury in the copyright infringement case Hayden v. 2K Games, Inc. returned a verdict finding that an implied license existed as to the depiction of tattoos inked by the plaintiff on three professional basketball players in the NBA 2K video game franchise.

Last week, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) held the 2024 DICE Summit, an annual event for developers, publishers, media representatives, and other people in the games industry to come together and interact face to face for a few intensive days of meetings, pitches, and networking.

On December 11, 2023, the jury in the Epic Games, Inc. v. Google LLC et al antitrust litigation handed Epic a significant victory after less than four hours of deliberation, finding that Google wielded unlawful monopoly power within the Android app distribution and in-app billing services.

On November 1, 2023, the Ninth Circuit delivered its decision in the appeal of Hanagami v. Epic Games Inc., reversing the Central District’s grant of defendant Epic Games’ motion to dismiss in the copyright infringement lawsuit brought by choreographer Kyle Hanagami.

On September 7, 2023, Microsoft announced a new “Copilot Copyright Commitment” for users of its suite of AI-powered tools, following their earlier “AI Customer Commitments” policy statement in June.

With the upcoming release of Starfield, developer Bethesda has advertised that its game will have “full mod support,” even claiming it will be a modder’s “paradise.”

Mere months after making waves with a historic $520 million penalty against Epic Games (which we wrote about previously here), the FTC has followed up with another $20 million penalty against Microsoft in connection with its Xbox Live service.

The Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit recently affirmed the 2021 district court ruling in Epic Games v. Apple.

With the specter of COVID looming less large over the proceedings, this year’s Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) had the potential to be a return to the Conference’s “glory days” as a place where game developers and lawyers from all over the world could meet, exchange stories, and generally party the night away.

At the end of February, the U.S. Copyright Office made waves again when it announced it was revoking a comic book author’s copyright registration in the AI-generated images used within their book Zarya of the Dawn.

Tyz Law Group attorneys Joe Newman and Jonathan Downing announced a new collaboration with popular gaming YouTube channel Extra Credits, discussing the legal issues surrounding the use of artificial intelligence for content creation, particularly in the world of video games.

The Dungeons & Dragons (“D&D”) Players Handbook for the game’s Third Edition, first published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast (“Wizards,” parent company Hasbro), contains a chapter dedicated to spells that characters may learn and cast within the game.

In a bombshell announcement, the FTC announced Monday a historic $520 million penalty against Epic Games, creators of the popular game Fortnite.

The hot new privacy law (well, one of many) is the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CA AADCA), which the California Senate passed at the end of August and was just signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Mission: Connect with other legal professions and learn the latest developments in games law.

The Tyz Law team has partnered with popular gaming and educational YouTube series Extra Credits for a special informative video discussing “Play To Earn” blockchain-enabled gaming initiatives.

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services, creates brand recognition, and distinguishes you from your competitors.

The Northern District of California issued its judgment in the bellwether antitrust case Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc. on September 10, 2021, after a 3‑week bench trial.

The Supreme Court’s April 5, 2021 decision in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. and the Second Circuit’s March 26, 2021 decision in Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith both applied the fair use doctrine to claims of copyright infringement, but came to different conclusions.

Penalties for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) can be extreme.