Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming: Engine Licensing & IP Protection

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Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Engine Licensing & IP Protection

I attended the "Engine Licensing & IP Protection" session, mostly because I should because of my job, but partly - honestly - because I wanted to.

Greg Boyd was a fairly engaging speaker (especially given the content), though he apologized way too much about the dryness of the content.

The session was too-lightly attended, made up of mostly of Emergent Game Technologies, Crytek, and Epic Games and their attorneys. And some game devs.

I should probably be careful about summarizing this talk, since it's content from an attorney.

Subjects covered included:

* The grant (Length, Territory, Payment)
* Distribution (Commercial allowed?
Content limits? Include your source? Geographical limits? Your source with it?)
* IP rights (Rights in the final product, Rights in improvements to the engine, Reservations of rights in the tools - what are you allowed to do?)
* The Risks (Representation of Warranty, No IP infringement, Professional and workmanlike quality, No virus, Security, Compliance w 3rd party code or policies)
*Indemnifcation - a set of promises from both companies, and who will pay for resolving each
> Ip rights (patent?)
> Gross Negligence
> Breach of this agreement
> Third party losses (check this)
* Limitation of liabilities (Caps in fancies - Fees, timeframe?
Exceptions? Perhaps just a support promise)
* Payment
> Free
- "I fear free"
- What are the strings?
- What is the support?
- What other games have launched with it
> Money up front
- Usually pretty hefty
- Usually no money up front
- Check for differences in product and services based on changes in price
- Negotiate the sum
> Royalty Stream
- Usually no (or little) money up front
- Run spreadsheets
- Talk to publishers and audit
- Negotiate the rate

Official breakdown:

How do intellectual property and licensing work together to protect a developer's code in documents like an engine license? In this session, we will look at the elements of an engine license and the variety of ways this type of intellectual property may be licensed. Starting with the basic intellectual property components, we will examine the critical clauses in these agreements including payment, scope, representations and warranties, indemnification, and limitation of liability. We will dissect these clauses and discuss what they mean practically for both licensors and licensees of technology. Using an engine license as an example and educational tool, this session should help developers understand the core concepts that are important to all types of software licensing.
Speakers
* Greg Boyd
Davis & Gilbert

Greg Boyd is an attorney with Davis & Gilbert in New York and has represented some of the most prominent game companies in the world. He is co-editor of the popular reference book Business and Legal Primer for Game Development. Dr. Boyd is a frequent conference speaker including GDC, SXSW, Austin GDC, and State of Play. His commentary on the game industry has appeared in many media outlets including Fortune, Forbes, CNN, DFC Intelligence, Game Developer Magazine, and Gamasutra. He sits on the Board of Advisors for Mobygames. Dr. Boyd obtained MD and JD degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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SOURCES: Gamespot.com, joystiq.com, kotaku.com, Xbox.com, IGN, GameInformer, Official XBox Magazine, CNN, gamesindustry.biz, and others.

Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Engine Licensing & IP Protection

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