Games Industry Legal Challenge

The Legal Challenge is the annual moot court competition that is fully dedicated to the matters of the international games industry.

With 11 judges representing every key region of the world, the Challenge is the ultimate competition for lawyers interested in joining the industry in an in-house role or through practice at a law firm.

Every year since 2017, over 20 teams from more than 10 countries compete for the right to face each other off in the semifinals, with the top 4 teams scoring the all-inclusive tickets to the year’s Summit in Vilnius.

Download RulesProblem with clarificationsMemorandum guidelines

Schedule

7 January 2022

  • The Case is published on the website. 

31 January 2022 (24:00 UTC+02:00)

  • Submission of clarification questions by the Teams

6 February 2022

  • The answers to clarification questions are published on the website.

1 March 2022 (24:00 UTC+02:00)

  • Deadline for the Teams to be registered.

4 March 2022 (24:00 UTC+02:00)

  • Deadline for Memoranda for Claimant to be submitted.

1 April 2022 (24:00 UTC+02:00)

  • Deadline for Memoranda for Respondent to be submitted.

15 April 2022

  • Finalist Teams (4) are announced on the website.

27 April 2022 (11:00-14:00 UTC +3:00)

  • Semifinal - Elexir VS Two Times Elusive
Judges: Paul Gardner (presidign judge), Christian Rauda, Michael Boughey.

29 April 2022 (11:00-14:00 UTC +3:00)

  • Semifinal - Pisco & Curries VS Diamond Hands
Judges: Andy Ramos (presidign judge), Katya Nemova, George Mountis.

6 May 2022 (17:00-21:00 UTC +3:00)

  • Final - Elexir VS Pisco & Curries
Judges: Anna Kobylańska (presidign judge), Konstantin Ewald, Sean F. Kane, Ryan Black.

8 September 2022

  • Award ceremony at Games Industry Law Summit Vilnius VII

F.A.Q

Students currently actively enrolled in their Bachelor or Master programs, as well as graduates from such programs may participate, provided they have graduated not more than 3 years before applying for participation. We accept teams that have up to 3 participants. The finalists of the previous editions of Legal Challenge are not allowed to take part in another Legal Challenge. The teams that participated before, but did not make it to the finals, may compete again.

To compete in Legal Challenge V, please fill in the registration form here. Each competing team also pays a non-refundable registration fee of €50 (payment instructions are emailed after the registration). The registration closes on 25 February 2022.

Legal Challenge gives students and young graduates a unique chance to apply their professional knowledge in the games industry law, and to the 4 teams that qualify to the semifinals – the opportunity to meet in person some of the most talented legal and business development professionals from the international games industry around the world.

All members of the 4 teams that qualify to the semifinals of Legal Challenge will have their registration fees for the Games Industry Law Summit Vilnius 2022 paid in full by the organizers (€900 per person), and will enjoy full access to the event, including the Formal Dinner, as well as have their stay at the local hotel fully covered for the 3 nights of the event. During the award ceremony, each member of the 4 teams receives the custom-made commemorative trophies.

We welcome both students and graduates; therefore, the team does not necessarily have to be related to any university. Furthermore, the team can be composed of students and graduates from different faculties or universities.

We encourage you to form and administer the teams on your own. However, if you would like to have someone mentoring you through the Challenge, this is allowed. The designated coach may attend the semifinals, but will not be permitted to plead.

In the first part of the challenge, the teams are expected to submit a memorandum for claimant and a memorandum for respondent; in the second part, 4 teams that receive the highest score for the first part will take part in oral pleadings.

What do lawyers and pirates have in common? Apart from an impeccable taste in fashion, both are often called to navigate uncharted waters. So, what is the final frontier? Space for pirates and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for lawyers, of course. This year we enter stable orbit around an emerging issue within the context of video game development: copyright and NFTs. The two teams will navigate murky contractual arrangements and—inescapably—squabble over intangible ownership. The teams will also test the boundaries of current copyright laws, determine ownership of works created while in employment, assess the scope of derivative works and trademark protection.

Final, May 6

Elexir

Barrera Cano, Laura
Privacy Professional at Riot Games
Dublin, Ireland

Pisco & Curries (Winners)

Bhandari, Avi
Queen Mary University of London
Udaipur, India
Kumar, Abhinav
Queen Mary University of London
Udaipur, India
Pulido Lock, Juan Alberto
Queen Mary University of London
Lima, Peru

Semifinalists

Two Times Elusive

Riabtsev, Igor
Belarusian State University
Minsk, Belarus
Lyasovich, Dmitriy
Belarusian State University
Minsk, Belarus

Diamond Hands

Zafran, Mohamad
University Utara Malaysia
Kedah, Malaysia
Wen Jiek, Yap
University Utara Malaysia
Kedah, Malaysia
Min Han, Pua
University Utara Malaysia
Kedah, Malaysia

Judge Panel

Presiding Judge

Kobylańska, Anna
Partner at KL&M Law
Warsaw, Poland

Judges

Black, Ryan
Partner at DLA Piper
Vancouver, Canada
Boughey, Michael
Partner at HWL Ebsworth
Brisbane, AU
Ewald, Konstantin
Partner at Osborne Clarke
Cologne, Germany
Gardner, Paul
Partner at Wiggin
London, UK
Kane, Sean F.
Co-Chair of Interactive Entertainment Group at Frankfurt Kurnit
New York, US
Mountis, George
Co-Managing Partner at Chrysostomides
Nicosia, Cyprus
Nemova, Katya
Deputy General Counsel at Wargaming
Vilnius, Lithuania
Pagnanelli, Karin
Partner at MSK
Los Angeles, US
Ramos, Andy🎙
Partner at Pérez-Llorca
Madrid, Spain
Rauda, Christian🌳
Partner at GRAEF Rechtsanwälte
Mainz, Germany

Other Participants

BelGameCharge (Belarus)

  • Alexander Struzhko
  • Andrej Rutkovsky
  • Anatolij Pribytko

BSUTeam (Belarus)

  • Alina Herasimovich
  • Darya Sauko
  • Tatsiana Naumovich

Carey On (US)

  • Ernestas Pravilionis
  • Timothy Ondego
  • Christian Amadi-Ohiri

Concerned NPCs (Turkey)

  • Buket Erdem
  • Erhan Ceylan
  • Alp Apaydın

Hotline Disco (Russia)

  • Boris Karpychev
  • Melaniya Maslova

The Ph.ungible D.s (UK)

  • Michael Dunford
  • Salvatore Fasciana
  • Zeynep Kubra Kavcar Penbegullu

MajOta (Poland)

  • Antoni Otałęga
  • Klaudia Majerańczyk