Game clones and copyright infringement: a comparative study of judicial practices in the US, Japan and China
The thesis explored whether a video game will constitute copyright infringement if something in that game (such as display on the screen, software, game mechanics, and so on) is similar to an earlier game.
To achieve that goal, this thesis shows and compares how the US, Japanese and Chinese courts make their decisions on the following three issues: (1) what contents in a video game can be protected by copyright law, (2) how to find the existence of illegal copying, and (3) whether the liability of copying an earlier video game can be exempted. Through the comparison, this thesis finds the divergence of opinions about what can be protected in the display of a video game.
This thesis advises the court to understand a video game under a framework of a four-level hierarchy, and find the illegal copying by relying on expert opinions of differences and similarities between two video games.
Click here for the full dissertation.
Also read
-
Professor Anouk Bollen-Vandenboorn appointed Knight in the Order of the Crown
Prof. Dr Anouk Bollen-Vandenboorn, Director of the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross border cooperation and Mobility (ITEM) at the Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, was appointed Knight in the Order of the Crown on 3 July, during a formal ceremony at the Belgian Embassy in The...
-
ITEM continues: Advancing cross-border cooperation and impact
ITEM enters new phase within UM Faculty of Law from 2025.
-
IGIR seminar series
The IGIR seminar series will be launched after the Summer break. Our aim is to offer a nice and friendly environment for staff members and visiting researchers to present their ongoing research.
