Registering Copyright in Board Games and Video Games

49 questions on registering copyright in board games and video games, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are game boards and tokens copyrightable as useful articles?
• Can a game mechanic be patented?
• Can AI-generated game art be copyrighted?
• Can I publish my own version of chess, poker, or another traditional game?
• Can the arrangement of a game's mechanic and world be protectable expression?
• Can the wording of a game rule ever lose copyright protection?
• Can trademark law be used to protect creative content copyright does not cover?
• Can trade secret law protect an unreleased game mechanic?
• Can you copyright a board game's rules?
• Does copyright protect a game's artistic style?
• How do courts analyze infringement across a video game's multiple layers?
• How does a plaintiff prove actual copying in a game infringement case?
• How does trade dress protect a game?
• How do you protect a game's title?
• How do you register a second edition or a major game update?
• How should a video game be registered with the Copyright Office?
• If a competitor copies my game's mechanic but writes its own rules and art, have they infringed?
• Is a mobile game protected differently from a console or PC game?
• Is a video game one copyrighted work or two?
• Is a video game's on-screen display copyrightable even though it changes with player input?
• Is it a defense that copied visual elements are tied to gameplay?
• Is playing a game an act controlled by copyright?
• Should a board game be registered as a literary work or a work of the visual arts?
• What are the three lessons of the Tetris decision for game developers?
• What counts as identifying material for a game copyright deposit?
• What deposit does the Copyright Office require for a board game?
• What did Baker v. Selden establish about copyrighting a method?
• What did Tetris Holding v. Xio Interactive hold?
• What did the Pac-Man case decide about game cloning?
• What does Section 102(b) exclude from copyright protection?
• What is substantial similarity of protected expression?
• What is the abstraction-filtration-comparison test?
• What is the abstractions ladder in copyright law?
• What is the layered IP strategy for protecting a game?
• What is the merger doctrine in copyright?
• What is the Ninth Circuit's extrinsic/intrinsic test?
• What is the ordinary observer test for copyright infringement?
• What is the registration playbook for a board or card game?
• What is the registration playbook for a video game?
• What is the scènes à faire doctrine, and how does it apply to games?
• What parts of a board game does copyright protect?
• What should a studio do before accusing a competitor of cloning its game?
• What should a studio do when it discovers a clone of its game?
• When does a game clone NOT infringe, even if the games look similar?
• Which cases hold that game rules are unprotectable systems?
• Which copyright application type should a game use?
• Who owns player-created mods and user-generated game content?
• Who owns the copyright in a game built by a team?
• Why should a game developer register a copyright at all?