The intersection of social games and gambling is moving forward at a torrid pace. Yet, there are many blurred lines with respect to the legal boundaries for permissible game mechanics used in social games and online gambling offerings. The use of virtual goods and virtual currency further complicates the analysis.…
While a legal battle will continue between a Second Life content “consultant” and a school teacher using the online virtual-world creating program as an educational tool, the Southern District of New York made one thing clear last week – user-generated Second Life content is copyrightable. In FireSabre Consulting LLC v.…
A weekly wrap up of interesting news about virtual worlds, virtual goods and other social media. A Senator Raises Privacy Questions About Cross-Device Tracking Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, said that tracking technologies such as cookies are giving way to more sophisticated methods for monitoring…
Connecticut is another state to join in a recent trend to amend the state’s money transmitter law to remove an explicit exemption from licensure previously afforded to agents of entities exempt from license under the state’s money transmitter laws. In Connecticut, under the amended law, “money transmission” means “engaging in…
Please join us at Game Developers Conference (GDC) Next 2013 (Los Angeles, November 5 – 7). This conference is a brand new developer event focusing on creating the game experiences of the future, including how we will play games, on what we will play them, and how we will monetize,…
Join Pillsbury for a three-event series addressing legal, regulatory and business issues confronting the universe of social media, games and mobile applications. The first event in the series is Mobile Applications and Games on Wednesday, October 16 from 6:00 – 9:00 pm. The mobile applications and games market is exploding.…
Last Friday, California’s Governor Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 370. AB 370 amends California’s Business & Professions Code § 22575 to require an operator of a commercial Internet website or online service that collects personally identifiable information about consumers residing in California who use or visit its website or…
Pillsbury attorney, Sean Kane, serves on the Governing Committee of the ABA as the Licensing, Merchandising and Branding Division Chair. Sean is participating in the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries as the moderator for a discussion titled, “PLENARY: Rights of Publicity…
A recent spate of cases has generally upheld, on First Amendment grounds, a developer’s right to include unlicensed trademarks in video games. However, until the body of case law becomes so prevalent that trademark owners recognize that they cannot possibly succeed in an action involving use in a video game,…
King.com, maker of some of the most popular Facebook and mobile games, filed a complaint in the Northern District of California Tuesday, claiming competitor 6Waves cloned King’s Pet Rescue Saga and Farm Hero Saga games in developing its own Farm Epic and Treasure Epic titles. King is also the maker…