Business & Legal Primer for Game Development 1st Edition

by S. Gregory Boyd (Editor), Brian Green (Editor)

18 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-1584504924

ISBN-10: 9781584504924

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Business is an important part of making games and the legal aspects have also become significant. Business and Legal Primer for Games explores the major legal and business issues involved in game development with a particular focus on starting a business. The book contains practical introductory sections on business and legal problems that members of the development community are often confronted with. These problems include business structure, contracts, employment law, taxation, and IP. Those seeking to start their own game development company will receive invaluable information regarding getting started, basic business operations, marketing, licensing intellectual property, and exit strategies. Business and Legal Primer for Games is the ideal starting point with any who has ever wanted to start a game business and an excellent reference of information for those who already are involved in game development.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Greg Boyd is an attorney with Kenyon & Kenyon LLP in New York. He has represented some of the most prominent game companies in the world; his practice includes IP counseling and litigation for both publishers and developers. As a member of the International Game Developers Association IP Rights Committee, he was an author and editor on the International Game Developers Association IP Whitepaper. Dr. Boyd has spoken at several national conferences including AIPLA, GDC, Austin Game Conference, and State of Play. His commentary on business and law in the game industry has appeared in national publications including Fortune, Forbes, Game Developer Magazine, and Gamasutra. He sits on the Board of Advisors for Mobygames. Dr. Boyd obtained M.D. and J.D. degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Brian Green, often known by the online pseudonym of "Psychochild", is an experienced online game developer. He is co-editor a co-author of this book. Brian received degrees in both Spanish and Computer Science with a minor in Business. He started his professional career in 1998 working on the classic online RPG, Meridian 59 (http://www.meridian59.com/). He then left to work at the now defunct Communities.com on The Palace, a noted graphical chat product. Brian later started Near Death Studios, Inc. with fellow former Meridian 59 developer Rob "Q" Ellis II. In late 2001, the company had the opportunity to purchase Meridian 59 and work on it again. In May of 2002 Meridian 59 was commercially re-launched. Brian has maintained Meridian 59 and ran the business side of Near Death Studios, Inc. He is a frequent speaker at game industry conferences and shares his experiences in developing independent games and running a business.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1584504927
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Charles River Media; 1st edition (November 10, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 475 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781584504924
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1584504924
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.5 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.75 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,228,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #487 in Tax Law (Books)
- #1,600 in Game Programming

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jdmiles

Amazing

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book is dated and is no longer available, but it is also the only published reference for this content. Very strong and solid discussion of copyright laws, contracting issues, and the different type of business entities. We used this book in our Business Management course as part of the Simulation and Game Development curriculum until we could not longer obtain copies of the book and have changed the course out with a different one. IMO all indie game developers should have this book on their shelf

One person found this helpful

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D. Eckhart

Lawyers love to talk

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2009

Verified Purchase

This book is a compilation of information by a number of prominent video game lawyers and businessmen. There is a lot of information in the book, and as far as I know it's all accurate. Much of it is common sense, but some of it is very technical.

The only problem is that lawyers love to talk. About 1/3 of each chapter is important information, the other 2/3 are usually jokes and silly examples.

Even so, this is a good book for learning the basics. The section on Intellectual Property is very significant, as is the section on video game contracts.

Tax laws and things like that are always in flux, and that is one of the things that the book covers, but even if they do change slightly, this will book will prepare you for the basics.

In general, this book is great for the student or gamer who wants a clue about what it's like to run a business.

For anyone who has an MBA, or is actually thinking about running a business, you should probably already know these things, or else have hired someone who knows them to do the accounting and legal work for you.

One person found this helpful

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RMor

Interest in the video game industry? MUST READ!

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2012

Verified Purchase

I am a law student interested in intellectual property, specifically in the realm of video games. I also work for an independent game developer and am confronted with a lot of difficult legal questions daily. There are plenty of blogs/books/how-to guides around the internet that attempt to remedy some of these problems I commonly face, but none have come close to being as clear, concise, and truly helpful as this book.

If you are a developer and want to try and understand some of the basics of the industry (TRUST ME! It's something most developers don't think about but absolutely should!) this book is a must-own.If you are a law student interested in IP, even non-game related, this book does a great job of discussing current issues and digging deeper into actual contracts and clauses than even most school courses do. If you are an attorney, what are you waiting for? Games are the future and where the money is. Buy this book and brush up on an industry that is exploding. It will pay for itself a thousand times over.

One person found this helpful

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Stanley Janoski III

business and legal in game dev review

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2012

Verified Purchase

It took a while to arrive, but it was worth the wait. The product exceeded expectations and I am very satisfied with it.

One person found this helpful

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John Matlock

Great Background Information

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2007

If you are even thinking of forming a company in the computer gaming industry, or if you're an outside developer presenting a game to a company, here is a wealth of information. Of course, as one of the contributor says, 'if you have $10 million already and you are starting a game company, then you can afford to hire a lawyer to do all this work for you.' But just to double check the work he is doing you still should read this book.

This book really has two sections. First is about starting a company. This is on all the general business parts like creating a legal business entity, renting an office, hiring staff, product and market analysis, raising capital, etc.

But then comes the second part that is specific to the gaming industry, especially the intellectual property that you are creating as you define characters, the art aspects of how the game looks, and the contracts you will need to have in place with your developers or with a game distribution company if you use them.

There's another aspect that could fit under either of these two as they are not standard for most businesses but not restricted to games either, this includes selling internationally, paying international taxes and so on.

Basically, as the title of this book says, it's a 'Primer,' that is, a general introduction that will enable you to know what you're talking about but not enough to consider yourself an attorney.

8 people found this helpful

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James S. Humphrey IV

Amazing resource...

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2006

I am an attorney who only occasionally encounters intellectual property issues stemming from "gaming" in my practice. However, like most males my age, I'm fascinated by the video game industry, and in particular, video game development. I picked up this book to learn a little bit more about gaming issues--partly in the hopes of expanding my practice, partly in an effort to learn more about the industry--and ended up buying this primer on a whim. It turned out to be a great decision...not only does this book provide the astute, rock-solid legal analysis I would expect from a legal primer, it also gives an amazing and exciting inside look at the world of development.

The primer begins with a good-natured and insightful perspective on starting your own game company, winds its way through the trials of day-to-day business operations and ends up with some shared experiences from those who have "made it" in the world of video game development, including the co-founders of GameLab. In between, well-researched and easy-to-understand legal advice is dispensed on a wide range of pertinent topics, including intellecual property law, contract law, taxation and even the current state of law in virtual worlds.

In short, this primer is an affirmatively *enjoyable* read--a rarity among legal primers, as I can unfortunately attest--and a must-read for would-be developers and anyone else who wants to really understand the ins and outs of video game development. I plan on recommending it not only to my clients but to anyone who is even remotely interested in learning more about the gaming industry.

18 people found this helpful

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