Master Thesis 2016 – 2017 Tilburg University Faculty of Law LL.M. Law and Technology Playing the game of video game classification Game Over for Europe? Author: Stephan van der Velden ANR: 964836 Under the supervision of: Dr. C.M.K.C. Cuijpers ABSTRACT Over the last few decades the video game industry transformed into one of the fastest growing and most profitable entertainment industries in the world. The global video game market is estimated to generate US$99.6 billion in 2016. Despite this significant economic footprint in our society it is surprising to see no specific legislation has been established in relation to video games and intellectual property laws - more specifically copyright laws. This thesis shall dive into video game qualification within the European Copyright Framework with a dualistic goal – establishing where video games fall within our current European copyright framework and determine whether these video games are sufficiently protected within said framework. To reach the goals above, this thesis will analyze video games and its characteristics, study how a video game fits within the regimes of protection of computer programs and audiovisual works, assess the qualification methods for said regimes within Europe in relation to video games and briefly discuss an alternative tailor-made regime for video games. The aim of this thesis is to establish if and how video games are qualified within the European copyright framework and strives to provide an overview of potential issues that arise with such a qualification. Consequently, it should become apparent whether video games are in need of better protection within the European copyright framework. As such, the results of this thesis should provide some support for ongoing (legislative) debates on copyright protection of video games. Keywords: video games, copyright, audiovisual works, computer programs, regimes of protection, distributive qualification, unitary qualification. 1 FOREWORD Player authorship and transformative use of video games was initially the main research question of this thesis. However, during the early research sessions it became apparent that the classification discussion of video games is still ongoing. Thus, it seems appropriate and effective to tackle video game classification before engaging in any research topic in relation to player authorship. The latter being a valid opportunity for further research. After this longer than expected journey, and as tradition dictates, I would like to express my gratitude to several persons for their patience, support and guidance whilst writing this thesis. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor Colette Cuijpers for her patience, helpful and extreme swift remarks and feedback, and allowing me in finalizing the topic I envisioned. Secondly, I would like to thank my direct colleagues and my manager Christine FLOBERT- POLI at SAP for their support and for providing me with the necessary capacity to finalize this research. Thirdly, a special appreciation to my girlfriend Eirini Tserepi for her relentless patience but unquestionable support during this process. She has ensured to keep me motivated during this process and assured finalization of the research. I hope you enjoy your reading. Stephan van der Velden Utrecht, July 9, 2017 2 ABBREVIATIONS ECJ European Court of Justice EU The European Union FPS First Person Shooters GUI Graphical User Interface IPR Intellectual property right PC Personal Computer ROMS Microcircuit Chips RPG Role Playing Games TPS Third Person Shooters TRIPS Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights USA United States of America WCT WIPO Copyright Treaty WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization WTO World Trade Organization 3 Table of Contents 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 6 1.1. Background ........................................................................................................................... 6 1.2. Research questions ............................................................................................................ 8 1.3. Limitations ............................................................................................................................. 9 1.4. Thesis Structure .................................................................................................................. 9 2. What is in the game? ......................................................................................................... 11 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 11 2.2. Video game characteristics ........................................................................................... 11 2.3. The video game industry ............................................................................................... 13 2.3.1. Categorizing video games ..................................................................................... 13 2.4. Stakeholders within the gaming industry ............................................................... 15 3. Copyright Framework ........................................................................................................ 17 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 17 3.2. Global copyright perspective ....................................................................................... 18 3.3. Acquis Communautaire .................................................................................................. 19 3.3.1. CPD ................................................................................................................................ 20 3.3.2. InfoSoc ......................................................................................................................... 21 3.4. Copyright elements and principles ............................................................................ 22 3.4.1. Rationale of copyright ............................................................................................. 22 3.4.2. Ownership in Copyright.......................................................................................... 23 3.4.3. The scope of Copyright? ........................................................................................ 23 3.4.4. Duration of protection ............................................................................................ 25 3.4.5. Originality principle .................................................................................................. 26 3.4.6. Copyright and related rights ................................................................................ 29 3.5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 30 4. Two regimes of protection.............................................................................................. 31 4.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 31 4.2. Audiovisual works............................................................................................................. 31 4.3. Computer programs ........................................................................................................ 34 4.4. The rules of audiovisual works .................................................................................... 36 4.5. The rules of computer programs ................................................................................ 39 4 4.6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 40 5. Video games versus the regimes of protection ................................................. 41 5.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 41 5.2. Video games as computer programs? ...................................................................... 41 5.2.1. How do video games play with computer programs? ................................ 42 5.3. Video games as Audiovisual Works? ......................................................................... 44 5.3.1. How do video games play with audiovisual works? .................................... 45 5.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 47 6. European qualification methods ................................................................................. 49 6.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 49 6.2. Unitary approach as Audiovisual or Computer Program ................................... 49 6.3. Distributive classification of video games ............................................................... 51 6.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 53 7. A tailor-made regime for video games? ................................................................. 54 7.1. Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................