What makes a games law attorney? Or interview at ZAP

Key Facts

The interview was published by ZAP - Zeitschrift für die Anwaltspraxis and is aimed at practitioners.
The focus was on the computer games industry and the everyday life of a games lawyer.
Classic tasks include founding start-ups and advising on state funding mechanisms.
Important activities are the creation of publishing contracts for international distribution.
A successful game developer has to think beyond Germany, especially in the mobile games sector.
The advice extends to cooperation and employment contracts, as well as merchandising and licenses.
The full interview is available online.

Today an exciting interview with me went online, which the “ZAP – Zeitschrift für die Anwaltspraxis” published. The journal is aimed primarily at practitioners among legal colleagues.

In the interview, questions were mainly asked about the computer games industry but also about my everyday life as a games lawyer.

Concrete example: What are the classic tasks of a lawyer who advises gaming companies or accompanies the development of a game?

Classic cases, apart from the establishment of start-up developers and their support in state funding mechanisms, are mainly the creation of so-called publishing contracts. This is just to be present internationally as well, it’s about the distribution and marketing around a game and the rights of use. A game developer who only sees Germany as a sales market cannot survive, especially in the mobile games sector. In the case of game developers, one then usually covers the entire range from cooperation to employment contracts. Later, however, it is also about merchandising or licenses, for example when well-known characters from a game are marketed.

The full interview is available here.

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.

Tags: Computer Computer game Development Game developer Gaming Lizenz marketing Publishing Verträge