Wednesday 15 March 2017

Year 1 - Unit 13 - Understanding the games industry - Legal Obligations

Unit 13 - Understanding the games industryLegal Obligations

Intellectual Property Rights and Licences:


A licence is an agreement between the IP right owner and another party which allows them to do something that otherwise would be an infringement of the rights without the license. They can license-out to another company in return for a fee or license-in if they want to use a different company's IP to develop and change their own business and products. The person who allows the licence is often called the licensor and the person on the receiving end of the licence is often called the licensee, there can be more than one of each.

Automatic Protection:


This protects any work created originally from anyone else using it without permission, there is no fee and it doesn't need applying for.

Examples:
  • Original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work. This includes illustration and photography.
  • Original non-literary written work such as, software, web content and databases.
  • SFX and music recordings.
  • Film and TV recordings.
  • Broadcasts.
  • The layout of any published edition works.

Protection that has to be applied for:

Trademarks: https://www.gov.uk/how-to-register-a-trade-mark

Someone can register their trade mark to protect their brand, this could be the name of their service or product for example. The time to allow for application is 4 months.

Examples of things that someone can do after registering their trade mark:

  • Take legal action against anyone who uses their brand without permission. This includes counterfeiters.
  • Put the correct symbol next to their brand to show its theirs and to warn off people who may want to use it.
  • They can sell and license their brand.

Patents: https://www.gov.uk/patent-your-invention

A patent can be used to protect an invention, it gives the person with the patent the right to take legal action against anyone who makes, sells, imports or uses it without permission. The time to allow for application is around 5 years.

Examples of everything an invention must be to be granted a patent:

  • Something that can be used or made.
  • New.
  • Inventive (not just a modification that is simple to something that already exists)

Consumer Protection (Consumer Protection Act 1987):

https://www.gov.uk/consumer-protection-rights

The law protects anyone's consumer rights if they buy any goods or services, if any of the below happen and they are treated unfairly they can get help:

  • Credit and Store Cards
  • Faulty or Counterfeit Goods
  • Poor Service
  • Problems with Contracts or Builders
  • Rouge Traders

Age Ratings and Classification (PEGI):

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-on-video-game-classification

Selling games with a higher age rating than the age of the person buying it is now a criminal offence, it is punishable with a hefty fine or possibly even a prison sentence. Video games are classified by an authority called the Video Standards Council (VSC), under the Pan-European Games Information (PEGI) system.

Marketing and Advertising Laws:

https://www.gov.uk/marketing-advertising-law

For marketing and advertising to be acceptable they must be:


  • An accurate description of the product or service that is being marketed.
  • Legal
  • Decent
  • Truthful
  • Honest
  • Socially Responsible (Not encouraging any unsafe, anti-social or illegal behaviour).

There are advertisement regulations to restrict what advertisers are and aren't allowed to do and use as well as these, there are 2 advertising codes of practice that will need to be followed to advertise legally: https://www.gov.uk/marketing-advertising-law/advertising-codes-of-practice

Data Protection and Privacy:

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-your-business

If a business uses personal information they must follow rules, this applies to information on staff, account holders and account holders that is kept.

Here are some examples:


  • Recruiting Staff
  • Managing Staff Records
  • Marketing Services or Products
  • Using CCTV

This could include:


  • Keeping customers' addresses on file.
  • Recording staff working hours.
  • Giving delivery information to companies.

When someone collects personal data they must tell who they are collecting it from the following to insure it is kept secure, up to date and accurate:


  • Who the data collector is.
  • How they will use the personal information.
  • They have to see the information and perform corrections if any is wrong.

Gambling Regulation (Gambling Act 2005):

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/gambling-commission

Regualtes arcades, bingo, betting, gaming machine providers, gambling software providers, casinos, lottery operators and external lottery managers and remote gambling by phone and online that uses British-based equipment.

Responsibilities concerning staff and employment practices:

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Health and Safety Policy:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/managing/writing.htm

Businesses must have a health and safety policy but if they have fewer than 5 employees nothing has to be written down . Most set out their policy in 3 sections:


  • Statement of general policy on health and safety at work. - This sets out the businesses commitment to managing health and safety effectively and what they want to achieve.
  • Responsibility section. - States who is responsible for certain actions.
  • Arrangements section. - This contains any detail of what the businesses are going to do in practice to achieve the aims stated in their statement of health and safety. This includes information on how they are going to reduce or eliminate the risks of any hazards (something that cause harm to someone. E.g. chemicals, electricity or working at a height) in the workplace. Any additional arrangements that they take to manage health and safety should also be set out in the arrangements section. These may include: staff training, using signs to make risks visible, improved safety equipment, replacing harmful chemicals with alternatives, changes in lighting or changes in flooring.



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