Research Handbook on Interactive Entertainment Law (Research Handbooks in Intellectual Property series)

Research Handbook on Interactive Entertainment Law (Research Handbooks in Intellectual Property series)

In this innovative Research Handbook, expert contributors provide insights into the legal and regulatory challenges shaping digital games and interactive entertainment. Organized around the themes of gameplay, community, and commerce, the volume explores the complex legal landscape surrounding games as creative works, digital environments, and dynamic commercial ecosystems. Covering a broad range of aspects from copyright and patents to human rights and environmental regulation, this Research Handbook presents an interdisciplinary perspective on the future of interactive entertainment. It sheds light on cutting-edge topics in the field such as the use of artificial intelligence in game development, gaming in the Metaverse, modding, and virtual economies. Contributing authors assess legal frameworks from a variety of jurisdictions, with a focus on regional differences in intellectual property and platform regulation. Chapters showcase tools for navigating this complex and rapidly evolving legal landscape, clarifying how law affects game design and underlining the protection of creative and commercial assets. Academics and students in intellectual property law and information and media law will greatly benefit from this Research Handbook ’s exploration of emerging issues. Featuring practical insights, it is also an invaluable resource for legal practitioners within or advising the games, tech, and creative industries, as well as creative professionals. ‘A significant and refreshing rethink of video games not as mere entertainment, but as digital spaces where culture, governance, and creativity converge. Insightful and accessible, this volume provides scholars, policymakers, and industry professionals a strong foundation to shape how law must evolve in a world increasingly mediated by play.’ -- Kimberly Voll, Co-Founder, Thriving in Games Group and CEO, Brace Yourself Games ‘Not “just a game,” this groundbreaking volume reveals how videogames are reshaping the foundations of law in digital society. Experts in games and legal studies show how play is transforming the rules of the spaces where we live, work, and connect. A definitive contribution for anyone seeking to understand law’s future in a world increasingly structured by play.’ -- Mia Consalvo, Concordia University, Canada Edited by Gaetano Dimita, Reader in Interactive Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, Yin Harn Lee, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Bristol Law School, Michaela MacDonald, Senior Lecturer in Law and Technology, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London and Marc Mimler, Senior Lecturer in Law, The City Law School, City St George's, University of London, UK