So You Want to Be A Games Lawyer...Anyone who follows the industry closely knows that legal issues come up with a high amount of frequency. Legal issues in the games business encompass everything from high-profile litigations such as the contract dispute and IP rights recently resolved between Zenimax and Interplay, to the unique lawsuit that's ongoing between Epic Games and Silicon Knights over middleware support, as well as the successful defense of the industry the ESA orchestrated in the Supreme Court. But beyond those news-worthy cases, there are innumerable contracts, employment offers, corporate formations and financings and intellectual property filings related to almost every game in the marketplace.
Lawyers like Patrick Sweeney are involved in many of these deals. We talked with Patrick Sweeney, head of Reed Smith's Video Game Practice and a member of the Video Game Bar Association's board, to get a better sense of what it's like to be an attorney working in and around the gaming industry.
Just What is a Games Attorney?
As we covered with the game analyst article, just what makes a game analyst is highly divergent among various experts. At the same time, being a “game attorney” is as diverse as the law. There are innumerable small distinctions between things like in-house lawyer and external counsel or different specialties like litigator or transactional. With the gaming industry worth billions worldwide, the necessity for lawyers is increasing every year.
“There's about 100 or so lawyers whose livelihood is heavily focused on the gaming industry. Other than the fact that you're working with gaming companies, it's not too different than most lawyer positions. It's not all legal scholars or supreme court cases and it's certainly not anything like legal television dramas/novels, such as L.A. Law or The Firm,” said Sweeney.
"With more titles and more money, there's going to be more lawyers, because people want to protect their IP, their games and their investments."
“I think there's a threshold question, and we've been kicking this around at the Video Game Bar Association: what is a games attorney? The lawyers who argued the Schwarzenegger case for the ESA are video game lawyers, though they have a different focus than what I do. They're still very much 'game attorneys.' There are litigators that do things involving games companies on a day-to-day basis and others for whom it might be a fraction of what they do. Where you draw the line is an interesting quandary - where is that line in-between? Patent law is a good example – if a patent lawyer has two cases out of 20 that are games related or for games clients, are they games lawyers or patent lawyers? That's what we're trying to answer.”
“My focus is on transactional matters and deals for games companies, whether it’s a movie license, development agreement or technology/outsource deals. The core of what I do is helping my games clients define the parameters of their various partnerships through the agreements they enter into.”
“For the VGBA, games attorney status is determined on the percentage of work we do for industry clients. But the guideline we use now is whether the core of your practice is immersed and dependent on the games. Employment representation, transactional work, litigation, all of those specialties have a place within game law,” he continued. “To me saying you're a game attorney is like saying you're a doctor. Are you a guy who handles licensing and development agreements? Are you someone who stood up for the ESA at the Supreme Court? It's the same thing for medical doctors: Are you a GP or are you a dentist? Work can vary wildly.”
The Education is Also Varied
In any sort of law practice you're going to have to be well educated. However, your focus can really depend on different things within the law – if you want to work with patents, you'll have to know more about the sciences. If you want to do contract work, there's education in transactional-focused courses that you should have. So even before you decide you want to specialize in games, you have to know your desired focus.
“There are different specialties within the legal practice of the video games business,” described Sweeney. “There are a great number of areas of legal expertise that are relevant to my clients such as transactional/licensing, intellectual property, privacy, litigation, corporate and regulatory. There's no specific required background or law school curriculum that can prepare you to be a good lawyer in this area. It really depends on your desired area of focus.”
“[As for me, I] always knew I wanted to be a corporate/entertainment lawyer, but I was thinking about something in the sports industry – I always wanted to be the general counsel for the New York Yankees, frankly,” he noted. “I didn't know that a career as a games attorney was even an option. I focused on international law and transactional law in school and I did TV and syndication agreements for a movie studio for a little bit and the path of life led me to the industry; I had the building blocks, though, in my background in entertainment law. So there is no real set of educational requirement or background.”
“Whenever possible, I always recommend that students take a course similar to the one I teach called 'Video Game Agreements.' There are a handful of law schools that offer similar courses and each provides a good introduction to the industry and the types of issues that are commonly seen. Beyond that, I would focus on law school courses that are relevant to what you're interested in doing within the games business,” he added. “For example, if you want to be a transactional attorney, try to focus on the IP and contract-based courses: licensing, entertainment, video game/computer law and copyright/trademark. Apart from the core educational requirements, I recommend that you learn as much as you can about the games industry as a whole. You can't be a strong advocate for your client without intricately understanding his or her business objectives. But more important than any set of courses, law students should learn to be a good lawyer first. Everything flows from that.”
Playing Games is Peripheral to Being a Games Lawyer
As someone who has grown up around lawyers, the one thing I can guarantee anyone getting into the field is that it's a lot of work. That's not saying you won't have time for video gaming, but the most important half of being a games lawyer is the lawyer part. It's serious work and will take a lot of your time... though unlike games journalism, it's more likely to pay well if you land in the field.
“I get asked all the time if I play games all day as part of my job,” detailed Sweeney. “Unfortunately, the answer is no. I don't play games...as part of my job. I play games because I enjoy them. The fact that you may be a gamer is nice, but it doesn't help you counsel your clients more effectively. Your World of Warcraft or Farmville level is nice to talk about, but it doesn't make you a better practitioner.”
“Being an attorney that works in the games space is a lot of hard work just like any attorney. But my clients and their line of business allow for some cool perks alongside some really interesting people.”
What is the Video Game Bar Association?
You may be wondering what the Video Game Bar Association is. Well, at this point it is still in a somewhat nascent stage, but like a lot of jobs networking matters. It is an example of a group of like-minded people that any aspiring lawyer should try to connect with.
“The VGBA is a networking organization that a few gaming attorneys, myself included, started about a year and a half ago,” describes Sweeney. “The purpose of the organization is to provide an environment where video game attorneys from around the world can network and discuss issues that relate to our clients. Membership in the VGBA is only available to attorneys whose primary focus is counseling game companies. Applicants need to be recommended by existing members and prove to the membership committee that they are truly representing clients in this industry. It's a great organization and I'm looking forward to its continued growth.”
How Will Being a Games Lawyer Evolve Over the Next Ten Years?
While certain parts of the gaming industry might be stagnating right now, the industry as a whole is growing. As the industry evolves and disperses into many smaller hands, it will not decrease the need for people knowledgeable about the law – perhaps it is just the opposite.
“The gaming world has changed over the past few years, evolving from a console retail model to a more diverse set of digital offerings. So there's more types of companies coming in and the barriers to entry for game creation are decreasing,” Sweeney notes. “With more titles and more money, there's going to be more lawyers, because people want to protect their IP, their games and their investments. So I'm expecting more game lawyers in five years than there are today.”
“The game makers are shifting their skill sets for different types of games and are learning different things. The lawyers are also learning to work in different areas. The retail contract model from seven years ago looks far different than it does today. More people and more money drive more transactions, litigation, employment issues, and corporate formations/financings. All of those things flow from having more games and more ways to play games. As that continues to grow, so therefore, will the need for legal counsel that understands this industry,” Sweeney concluded.
