CVGLS is Chicago’s premiere video game law related event. It is a day of academic panels devoted to the nuanced way video games require unique legal protections from a myriad of diverse legal disciplines. Game developers, industry representatives, and legal experts will explore, explain, and debate the latest issues in video game law.

Video games are as much technology as they are entertainment, and technology is the domain of patents.  The explosion of new applications in virtual and augmented reality has brought even more technological advances.  Software, though, has always been subject to special rules under patent laws originally designed to protect mechanical tools and chemical processes.  Navigating these rules can be complex and uncertain, particularly where the invention relates to how something “works” virtually.  Scott and Kirk from PatentArcade.com will discuss the challenges surrounding patents and video games, and explore how virtual and augmented reality further change the game.

Panelists will provide an overview of the free speech issues and gambling issues in video games and discuss whether and how the two intersect. The discussion will address what courts view as speech and what they view as gambling. What constitutes expression and what is behavior. How does this affect legal analysis? Finally, panelists will consider if current proposed laws regulating games overreach from a free speech perspective.

This panel will cover 2019’s hot topics in video game law including recent litigation, legislation, and transactions in the field. Additionally, the legal specialization of video game law itself will be discussed.

In this panel presentation, members of the International Game Developers Association Business and Legal Special Interest Group will discuss the most common legal issues independent game developers face. Everyday issues like business formation procedures, effective contract principles, content creation, and business strategies will be demystified using concrete examples.