Games Industry Legal Challenge
The Legal Challenge is the annual moot court focused exclusively on the matters of the international games industry. Supported by both the law firms engaged with the industry and the global games studios, the competition runs since 2017 and celebrates its 6th edition this year.
The Judge Panel is made of 12 practicing in-house and law firm lawyers who come from every corner of the world and bring a wealth of litigation experience in the context of different legal systems.
The semifinal pleadings run online, at the end of March. The top 4 teams score the all-inclusive tickets to the year’s Games Industry Law Summit VIII that runs in Vilnius in early September.
Presiding Judge
Judges
Winners of Legal Challenge 2023
Schedule
21 November 2022
- The Case is published on the website.
25 November 2022
- Opening registration of the Teams
5 December 2022 (24:00 UTC+02:00)
- Deadline for submission of clarification questions.
15 December 2022
- Publishing of answers to clarification questions.
10 January 2023 (24:00 UTC+02:00)
- Closing registration of the Teams.
20 January 2023 (24:00 UTC+02:00)
- Deadline for Memorandum for Claimant.
1 March 2023 (24:00 UTC+02:00)
- Deadline for Memorandum for Respondent.
10 March 2023
- Finalist Teams (4) are announced on the website.
21, 22 March 2023
- Semifinals online.
24 March 2023
- Finals online & announcement of results of Legal Challenge.
7 September 2023
- Award ceremony on Games Industry Law Summit in Vilnius
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.
The registration form will be available as of 25 November 2022. Each competing team shall pay a non-refundable registration fee of €50 (payment instructions are emailed after the registration). Registration closes on 10 January 2023.
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 for the semifinals of Legal Challenge will have their registration fee (Regular Pass) for the Games Industry Law Summit Vilnius 2023 waived in full by the organizers (€1200 per person), and will enjoy full access to the event, including the Formal Dinner. During the award ceremony, each member of the 4 teams receives 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.
The case focuses on a dispute between two video game publishers and addresses intellectual property infringement, bankruptcy law, conflict of laws, license termination, and derivative works.
Many years ago, Oryx acquired all rights to Crimson Cove, a video game developed by Techtonic. At the time of the acquisition, Crimson Cove was licensed to Jetsam, a third-party publisher. Techtonic and Oryx agreed that the license to Jetsam should survive the acquisition. Techtonic was dissolved soon after they sold Crimson Cove. Five years after the acquisition, Oryx realized that they owned Crimson Cove and that it was still published and monetized by Jetsam. Oryx never received any royalties or financial statements from Jetsam. Oryx approached Jetsam with a request for royalty statements, but despite a few reminders, Jetsam never replied.
Oryx filed a lawsuit against Jetsam, claiming that they should pay publishing royalties to Oryx for the period starting from the dissolution of Techtonic and up to the present date.