Video Game Law

A Free, Open Casebook

by Mark A. Lemley and Sonali Maitra

Video games are big business — far larger than music, movies, and even professional sports.  But they have long been neglected in academic study, and law is no exception.

Fortunately that is starting to change.  There are more than a dozen classes in Video Game Law currently being offered in law schools.  And the case law is developing fast.

Our casebook covers a variety of topics, from intellectual property to the First Amendment to torts, contracts, and property to antitrust and market structure to business considerations.

The book is free and open for all to use and customize.  We ask only that you attribute it to us.  Below you will find Word and PDF versions of each chapter.

This book is very much a work in progress.  We intend to revise it regularly, and we welcome your suggestions for improvement.  You can email us at mlemley@law.stanford.edu and sonali@tigresa.com

Download Chapters

Chapter 1: Introduction

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Chapter 2: Copyright Law

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Chapter 3: Patent Law

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Chapter 4: Trademark Law

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Chapter 5: The Right of Publicity and Depictions of People

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Chapter 6: Censorship & The First Amendment

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Chapter 7: Torts

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Chapter 8: Virtual Property and Contract

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Chapter 9: Reverse Engineering, Interoperability, Antitrust, and Market Structure

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Chapter 10: The Business of Video Games

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