By Tommaso Ricci and Giordana Babini 2019 was a thriving year for blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) more in general. Mainstream companies have demonstrated growing interest in both blockchain and DLT. Blockchain seems to have reached its turning point. What was only theoretical up to last year, is now finally becoming operational and integrated …
Some years ago – when we started our adventure with this IPT Italy blog – we could count the number of followers on the one hand (and yes, if you were wondering, our parents were the first ones to subscribe!).
DLA Piper DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, positioning us to help companies with their legal needs around the world. We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality and value to our clients. We achieve this …
Significant insights came out from the discussions on the present and future of video gaming law at the Games Law Industry Summit in Vilnius. My colleague Vincenzo Giuffré and I attended the event and tried to summarize our top 5 takeaways from the summit below: 1. Transparency and players’ protection are a priority in all the major jurisdictions Transparency …
Top 5 takeaways from the Games Industry Law Summit Read More »
The eSports market has grown at a tremendous pace over the past few years becoming a half billion dollar industry and it is quickly seducing an increasing number of fans, operators and investors. Beside the huge growth, the industry is rapidly evolving, going from content consumed largely through streaming platforms to network-backed streaming services.
The eSports law booklet from the Italian IPT team of DLA Piper covers a number of current and upcoming legal issues of eSports and how to deal with them in order to help companies operating in the market to better understand the issues that are arising and to which the eSports industry in some cases does not still have a good answer.
The eSports industry has undergone a massive growth in the recent years hitting a record market revenue of almost $1 billion. Blockchain technology could foster even more the huge market growth building trust, adding transparency and introducing new business models. Here is a brief overview of its applications and legal challenges.
Loot box regulation is a hot topic in a variety of regions. The attention over loot boxes began when a number of video games started to incorporate gaming micro-transactions for chance-based items within the game.
Previously, video games were sold as a stand-alone product and the interaction between players and the developers of the game existed only and to the extent players would have bought a sequel or an expansion pack of the video game.
Italian privacy dawn raids are a hot topic and being prepared to them is crucial, especially given the potential fines provided by the GDPR. Here are the main takeaways from our event on the matter.
On the 1st of March 2019, DLA Piper had the pleasure to host – together with AIGI – an event on Italian privacy dawn raids that had as main speaker, Mr. Marco Menegazzo, the head of the department of the tax police in charge of privacy dawn raids, supporting the Italian data protection authority (the Garante) on their performance.
eSports tournaments can be subject to stringent restrictions under Italian prize promotion and gambling rules if adequate solutions are not adopted.
The eSports market is rapidly growing and the data below show a massive boost from 2012 up to now in 2019 $ 130 million to $ 1,187 million, with a further fast increase in the coming years.
Publications sharing tips on how to complete videogames and maximise bonuses might increase with the expansion of the eSport competitions. The same applies to platforms streaming videogames alone or together with eSport actions of the various players. Yet are these activities possible without the right holders’ consent?
Under Italian law, videogames are protected as a whole as copyright works like movies, whilst their frames could be protected as simple photographies (with protection lasting 20 years from their publication). Following a different opinion, videogame frames could be excluded from protection, as they may considered similar to documents, as provided by Art. 87, last sentence of the Italian Copyright Law (ICL).
Parleremo di ispezioni privacy e di come prepararsi alle stesse l’1 marzo da DLA Piper con il Colonnello Marco Menegazzo ed esperti del settore.
La sanzione di € 50 milioni emessa di recente dal Garante privacy francese, il CNIL, si è rivelata come un campanello di allarme per le società. Ad oltre 9 mesi dall’inizio dell’applicabilità del GDPR, i garanti europei stanno emettendo le prime sanzioni ai sensi del Regolamento privacy europeo e gli importi possono essere molto elevati.
eSports competitions have recently become a trend topic among sports and gaming lovers.
An ever-growing number of major sports leagues and pro young players are getting involved in this global competitive industry, together with an increasing turnover. By 2020, eSports is predicted to become a billion-dollar industry.
This explosive growth of digital sports championships captured the attention of many leading companies – operating in various lines of business – which are gradually approaching this new phenomenon by investing into eSports in the hope of targeting its relevant audience.
It was a very busy year for the gambling sector with operators and suppliers that might be forced to reinvent, or at least considerably adjust, their business model to suit new markets, following their opening up, and new market conditions, due to recent regulatory restrictions.
Below are our top 3 predictions for 2019.
The eSports industry is in a period of rapid growth, but the growth of a market often leads to legal issues and obstacles that need to be overcome in order to achieve its potentials.
There is at the moment a range of legal and business issues where eSports need a more comprehensive approach involving learnt lessons from the sports and the gambling sectors.
Below are our top 3 predictions on the legal issues that will affect the eSports industry in 2019.
The Australian Senate Environment and Communications References Committee advised the Australian Government to undertake a comprehensive review of loot boxes within video games. The report published by Australian Authorities noted that loot boxes are “not a homogeneous entity” and there are many different iterations of the mechanic.However, a range of stakeholders, including regulatory agencies and academics, referred to the committee that loot boxes should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In this respect, it should be considered that there are a number of types of loot boxes available in video games.
© 2019 DLA Piper. DLA Piper is a global law firm operating through various separate and distinct legal entities. For further information about these entities and DLA Piper's structure, please refer to the Legal Notices page. All rights reserved. Attorney advertising.