Protection Of Video Games Under The Copyright Act

Pooja, LLM, Intellectual property and Trade Law, Christ Deemed to be University, Bangalore

ABSTRACT

Video games are considered complex structures with multiple creative inventions embodied in one entity. The video game industry has grown tremendously over years. It consists of multidisciplinary stakeholders involved in the creation of a game. This article mainly aims at bringing out the protection of video games under various elements of the Copyright Act. The lacuna in the Indian legal system is also brought out. The question of whether the creators have copyright protection over their gaming creations is still questionable under the Indian jurisdiction, as there is no blanket legislation for protection. The debate arises for the classification of the video game as a multimedia product in the market or an audio-visual work, or a simple coding protected as a computer program.

Keywords: video games, multimedia, copyright, gaming, eSports.