The Weekly Narrative series will collect relevant information about the current game industry, and take stock and interpret it from a legal perspective.
01 Mini games and cloud games can be connected to Apple Pay A few days ago, Apple issued an announcement announcing the launch of new options for streaming ** game services and applications around the world, and for the first time, it supports the cloud games and mini games and mini programs listed by developers to access Apple's payment system, fully supporting in-app paid content and service experience.
1. Streaming ** game apps are allowed to be used on the App Store worldwide. Developers will be able to run game streaming** services through native apps on devices such as iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Previously, users on Apple's iOS iPadOS could only access cloud gaming through a browser.
2. Developers can submit a single app, which can provide players with all the games in the catalog in the form of push streams. Previously, each cloud game had to be submitted to the App Store as a separate app, and the cloud gaming platform could not be listed.
3. The app will be able to provide additional ** for cloud games and mini games in the catalog.
4. Cloud games and mini games are allowed to access Apple's payment function.
5. Cloud games, mini games, and native app mobile games must comply with the App Store review, and the maximum rating of the game shall not be higher than the rating of the app.
6. Developers need to ensure that all software and games in the app comply with Apple's user experience and security standards.
02 Is the appraisal opinion invalid? "The First Case of the Three Kingdoms Mobile Game" may usher in a reversal On January 29, the second instance of the "First Case of the Intellectual Property of the Three Kingdoms Mobile Game" of "The Shore of the Land" and "The Strategic Version of the Three Kingdoms".
Previously, the plaintiff of the first instance, NetEase Leihuo Company, submitted an appraisal opinion on whether the specific gameplay design of the two games "The Shore of the Land" and "Three Kingdoms Strategic Edition" constituted substantial similarity, while the defendant of the first instance, Jian Yue Company, filed a separate lawsuit against the appraisal opinion, requesting the court to confirm the invalidity of the appraisal opinion on the grounds that the appraisal agency and the three appraisers did not have legal appraisal qualifications. The relevant evidence of the "case within a case" has been submitted to the court of second instance by Jianyue Company.
If Jian Yue's objection to the appraisal opinion is accepted by the court of second instance, it may lead to the case being reversed or remanded for retrial due to unclear facts and insufficient evidence.
Noelson Comments:
In game copyright infringement cases, appraisal opinions are often used as important evidence for determining the substantial similarity of games. Issues such as the qualifications of appraisal institutions and their appraisers, the compliance of appraisal materials, and the standardization of appraisal procedures are often the focus of disputes over the evidentiary validity of appraisal opinions in judicial practice, and need to be treated with caution by the parties.
Taking this case as an example, when choosing an appraisal agency, a game company should pay attention to checking the list of forensic appraisal institutions on the official ** of the provincial or municipal judicial bureau to confirm whether the appraisal agency has been filed with the judicial department. Also, check the institution's forensic license to make sure it has legal credentials. The examination of appraisers should start from the aspects of whether they have the legal qualifications for the required type of appraisal, whether their practice activities are lawful and compliant, and whether they follow the recusal system.
03 "Phantom Beast Palu" Pokémon Mod is removed from the shelves on multiple platforms Steam's current most popular game "Phantom Beast Palu" is in the whirlpool of plagiarism of Pokémon. In this regard, Nintendo issued an announcement on January 25 stating that it intends to investigate and take appropriate measures to resolve any infringement of Pokémon-related intellectual property rights.
Although Nintendo has not officially taken measures to protect the rights of the "Phantom Beast Palu" game on the surface, when players share the self-made "Phantom Beast Palu" Pokémon mod, Nintendo defends the rights at the speed of light. Currently, the Discord community and the Palu mod subreddit on Reddit have announced that Pokémon mods and any related files are prohibited from being shared or listed.
04 The game's "gold coins and random gameplay" advertisements were identified as false propaganda A company in Beijing claimed in the game advertisement that "800 million gold coins will be given away when it goes online" and "the big golden dragon will explode within three cannons". However, the Beijing Haidian District Administration for Market Regulation believes that these promotions do not accurately and clearly present the actual situation.
After review, it was found that the description of the game advertisement "800 million gold coins will be given away when it goes online" was inaccurate, and the way of in-game gold coin rewards was vague. In addition, the expression "the big golden dragon will explode within three cannons" is also inaccurate.
The aforesaid illegal advertisements were published within a short period of time and involved false publicity. On January 10, 2024, the Beijing Haidian District Administration for Market Regulation ordered the parties to correct the above illegal acts and fined them 8,59464 yuan.
Noelson Comments:
Game advertisements shall be truthful and lawful, comply with a series of specific advertising content and publication guidelines, and must not make false or misleading commercial promotions to deceive or mislead consumers.
In particular, it is necessary to pay attention to: whether the gameplay, character image, scenes, etc. are consistent with the actual situation, whether the publicity honor and data are consistent with the actual situation, whether the recharge**, discounts, etc. are true, and whether the drawing probability is open and transparent.
Although the new regulations on online games have not yet come into effect, there has been a trend of law enforcement in various places to severely punish and induce consumption, so game companies should strictly abide by the Advertising Law and relevant laws and regulations, avoid false advertising and publicity, and improve the compliance system.
05 Fined 30,000 yuan for operating a private server A company in Weihai operated a legendary private server online game called "Xianyunchuan" without the permission of the right holder, and the parties charged players fees through the Yilian platform and WeChat payment methods, with an illegal business turnover of 30,647 yuan.
This act violates the provisions of Article 2 of the Regulations on the Protection of the Right to Transmit Information on the Internet, and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of Article 18, Paragraph 1 of the Regulations. The Weihai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism decided to confiscate 30,647 yuan of illegal gains and fine him 30,000 yuan.
Noelson Comments:
In practice, for private server operations that are less profitable and do not constitute a criminal offense, genuine game companies can try to protect their rights through administrative means, and for illegal business activities such as "private servers", confiscation of illegal gains and fines are customary administrative penalties
Genuine game companies need to pay attention to the core focus of administrative penalties to clarify the identity of the private server operator, the illegal nature of the operation, and the degree of infringement on the genuine game or related rights holders.