Digital Entertainment Law

Digital Entertainment Law, Game Law, interactive entertainment law, video game law, or computer game law are emerging fields of Law. The field is growing constantly and now incorporates eSports. Most commonly, eSports takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions.

Digital Entertainment Lawyers need to have a blend of various skills. They need to know and love games, understand technology and have solid knowledge and experience of the law and how it impacts on games. One of our attorneys belongs to the Video Game Bar Association and is the current chairperson of Make Games – an Association of Game Makers.

We provide legal assistance to game developers around the world by advising on business structuring, registering companies, developing shareholders agreements, contracting employees and contractors, transferring IP offshore, managing  IP, developing licensing agreements and critically providing opinions on the legal aspects of their games.

Read our recent Insights relating to Digital Entertainment Law below.

Esports contracts: navigating the legal playing field

As an esports organisation, having a well-written contract that benefits both parties is the number one item you need in your inventory. Your players are everything to you and your organisation. You need to ensure that your esports contracts [...]

By |2025-06-09T22:28:00+02:00May 23rd, 2023|Categories: Digital Entertainment Law|Tags: , |

ISPs and the FPB – How do you register?

On 1 March 2022, the Films and Publications Amendment Act (Amendment Act) came into force. The Amendment Act expands the powers of the Film and Publications Board (FPB) to enable it to regulate content on digital platforms.  The Film and [...]

The curious case of the GTA 6 cybercrime

Imagine putting in hours of work to create one of the most anticipated games of the decade. Suddenly, a hacker decides to access your unfinished game and shares it with the world. This is exactly what happened to the developers [...]

Alert | The Film and Publications Amendment Act is here – now what?

The President of South Africa has proclaimed that the Film and Publications Amendment Act commences on 1 March 2022. The Act empowers the Film and Publications Board (FPB) to enforce the Act more effectively. Now that the Film and Publications [...]

Mr President, please don’t sign the Film and Publications Amendment Bill

So I've been getting some questions on what the Film and Publications Amendment Bill means, practically.  The short answer is: we don't know.  And honestly, that should terrify you enough, right there. Laws exist to create structure, and structure needs clarity. [...]

Fictional character – Protection through image trademarks?

How can you protect fictional characters from exploitation? Considering the potential brand value that fictional characters have for creators in video games and books, the following questions spring to mind: Does copyright provide an appropriate level of protection? What else [...]

Film and Publications Bill – Internet Censorship?

Last week, the South African parliament passed the Film and Publications Bill (or the Film and Publications Amendment Bill). There has been a great deal wrong with the Bill since it was first proposed, and we joined many other interested [...]

By |2019-06-27T09:43:51+02:00March 13th, 2018|Categories: Digital Entertainment Law, Internet Law, Media Law, Social Media Law|

Internet Freedom – Nicholas Hall Saves the Internet?

You might not know it, but our internet freedom is under threat. We have been working hard to make sure that our access to the digital world doesn't get restricted. It seems that our efforts are paying off. Last week the [...]

By |2022-12-15T10:45:51+02:00October 21st, 2016|Categories: Digital Entertainment Law|Tags: , , |

Film and Publications Amendment Bill scrapped?

The Film and Publications Amendment Bill is being finalised next week. The portfolio committee on communications will decide whether to approve the Bill and send it to parliament, or to scrap it entirely. We have fought hard to convince them [...]

By |2019-06-28T13:31:26+02:00October 17th, 2016|Categories: Digital Entertainment Law|Tags: , , |

You are a Commercial Online Distributor … Probably

The recent changes to the Films and Publications Amendment Bill makes a distinction between a commercial online distributor and a non-commercial online distributor. This change helps to prevent private users from getting caught up in the regulatory machine. But it [...]

Is Livestream Legal in South Africa?

There are many types of media that the law doesn't deal with properly. Livestream is one of them. Which begs the question: can we stream in South Africa, legally? And what changes, if any, will the proposed Film and Media [...]

By |2019-06-28T13:15:06+02:00October 12th, 2016|Categories: Digital Entertainment Law|Tags: , , |

Critical Lawsuit – Video Game Law Podcast

Video game law gives us the opportunity to do what we love: talk about the law, games, and the law of games. Listen to Critical Lawsuit - our new and experimental podcast - where we discuss what we find interesting in the world [...]

By |2019-06-28T16:32:35+02:00April 13th, 2016|Categories: Digital Entertainment Law|Tags: |