Games with a legal touch.
gamesjur is a content project about law and video games.
It is built on intellectual property, commercial strategy and supply chain.
A freelance artist designed your main character. There's no contract, just a Discord chat. Your game launches on Steam next month.
Every successful game has a legal story behind the scenes.
The topics that become videos on @gamesjur are the same ones that show up, at a different scale and in different shapes, in the day-to-day work of indie studios and solo developers.
- Why songs disappear from older GTA games
- Licenses have terms and territories. Soundtracks, fonts, sound libraries and purchased assets need licenses that last as long as your game does, re-releases included.
- From indie game to franchise with spin-offs
- Spin-offs, sequels and adaptations only get off the ground safely when the original game's IP is in order: characters, world and name need a clear owner, and contracts that allow new uses.
- Pokémon fangames
- Sooner or later, fans will use your IP. A clear fan content policy defines what you celebrate and what has to stop.
- Unity and the per-install fee
- Engines, stores and tools change their terms. Understanding the licenses your game depends on prevents surprises mid-development.
- Kingdom Hearts, between Disney and Square Enix
- Collabs and co-productions require defining, in writing, who owns each character, the code and everything created together.
What stage is your game at?
Each stage raises its own legal questions. Intellectual property sits at the heart of all of them, from the first freelancer contract to the first licensed product.
Stage 1
Before launch
- Trademark and software registration
- Freelancer contracts and rights assignments
- Founders' agreements and studio structure
- Terms of use and game policies
Stage 2
Dealing with partners
- Publisher contract review and negotiation
- Distribution, porting, localization and co-development
- Bringing in investors and new partners
- Launching and protecting your IP in other countries
Stage 3
Your game took off
- Licensing and merchandising
- Collabs and crossovers with other brands
- Ongoing IP portfolio curation
- Responding to copies and misuse
IP curation.
Intellectual property (IP) is the set of creative, original elements in a project, such as characters, story, art and code, that can be legally protected so that a solo developer or a studio can commercialize the game securely.
The philosophy is simple:
The biggest businesses don't have IP. They are IP.
That is why a game's IP should be treated as a core business asset, not a registration formality.
The work is ongoing: following ideas, music, artwork, characters and code throughout the game's life, so that legal protection keeps pace with the project.
Contact
To talk about your game, your studio or anything else in the world of games, the channels are below.
For press or educational matters, write to contato@gamesjur.com. For legal matters, write to contato@cavalcanteip.com.br.
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