Video game in the system of intellectual property: the concept and features of legal protection

Abstract

Keywords: video game, intellectual property law, computer program, software, digitalinformation, electronic information, multimedia work, audiovisual work
 The article is devoted to thestudy of the legal understanding of video games as an object of intellectual propertyrights. The author concludes that video games constitute digital information, whichgreatly facilitates their development, however, complicates the protection of intellectualproperty rights. There is a contradictory connection between the concepts of«electronic (digital) information», «audiovisual work», «computer program» and «literarywork», which establishes some uncertainty in the protection of video games,namely, what should be understood by these concepts in terms of law.The author found that the use of the latest technologies to improve the visual componentbrings the video game even closer to the game audiovisual object, which increasesthe complexity of the process of protection of intellectual property rights. However, thecurrent situation with the use of the term «computer program» in the context of protectionof intellectual property rights to video games does not cover all features of the latter,covering only the main program among the software recording and operation of thegame, such as audiovisual content. Therefore, there is a need to use the generalized conceptof «software» as opposed to the narrower concept of «computer program». In thiscase, in the absence of at least one of the characteristics of the multimedia work, the computerprogram should be referred to the scope of legal regulation of software.The author proposed to understand the video game as object of intellectual propertylaw in the following manner: multimedia work expressed in the form of digital(electronic) information, the principle of which is determined by the algorithms of thesoftware provided for installation in the memory of computer devices.In general, the digital nature of video games presupposes a revision of existing approachesto the protection of intellectual property rights, which may be aimed atweakening the regulatory function of the law where it is possible to regulate the relationshipby more flexible means.