Hi,

I'm currently in my last year of law school and the area of law which most interests me is video game law.

Some google-ing has found a few schools that offer something in this area (UCLA, Southwestern...) but I was wondering if anyone who shares an interest in this area has attended any schools/has any advice.

Thank you

Thats the first time i ever heard of such a specialisation - i doubt its recognised so. Perhaps you should consider looking for courses on intellectual property law in general and copyright of coputer software in particular

Are you asking about copyright and patent law or laws governing video games such as virtual worlds/life simulation games? If the later, this is a growing area of practice, about which I wrote an article for my law review, but I doubt there is an LLM or specialization for it. There are some pretty good IP LLM programs.

Hey ... i'm looking for a Specialisation in Entertainment and Media Law. Video Game Law is a part of this broader specialisation. So far, i've found UCLA, Chapman and Southwestern have this course.
Which country are you from? Does such a super-specialisation as Video Game Law have application?
I would really appreciate a reply.

Berkeley has a good IP program and they offer one course on video game law:

http://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/courses/coursePage.php?cID=7121&termCode=B&termYear=2010

You might want to check it out. But of course, one single course doesn't make for a specialization yet.

Hey,

There's no specific "video game law" specialization, I'm just looking for a program that has a decent emphasis on this emerging area of law.

It does seem that the best bet is an Entertainment and Media Law LLM, to which Southwestern seems to have the most specialization.

So perhaps my question should be more about Entertainment and Media law

I still think your best bet is intellectual property law with emphasis on copyright of software. Media and entertainment law is more general and includes regulation of media, censorship, freedom of press - all in respect of all forms of media.

I'm doing my LLM in Berkeley and have Video Game Law this semester.

If you're into this area of law, the IP program of Berkeley is perfectly suited for that. Of course, there is not a specific video game law, but all the underlying IP areas plus some other regulatory stuff etc. You'll find all that in Berkeley, taught by some of the leading legal scholars in this field (Samuelson, Merges, Menell,...) and practitioners, too. The vicinity to Silicon Valley really pays off.

E.g. the attorney teaching video game law has extensive experience working for both smaller studios and bigger publishers such as EA, he has worked both inhouse and as outside counsel. He will also bring business people from studios and publishers into class.

Additionally, we have courses here in entertainment law, media law, telecommunications law and whatnot. Even though you won't get a certificate or specialization on your diploma, you can basically take only IP courses during your 2 semesters with a few exceptions.

Thanks Farandir. I'll def check this out.

I just received a flyer that SMU Deman Law School is holding a two day "International Summit" on the "Law & Business of Video Games" January 27-28, 2010. Looks like a robust list of speakers from industry.

According to the flyer, SMU has started something called the Guildhall for Game Development Education. Even if you can't go I would contact SMU about how to further your study in this area. Maybe it will podcast the sessions?

The e-database publisher International Business Law Services (IBLS) focuses exclusively on IP and e-commerce and just maybe it has white papers in your subject area.

Hope you find these tips helpful.

Prof. WIlliam Byrnes - Walter H. & Dorothy B. Diamond Graduate Program of International Taxation & Financial Services