Video games have become an integral part of everyday life. According to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), 72% of American households play video games. This means that more than 164 million households in the US have at least one person who plays video games. The ESA also found that the average American gamer plays 6.3 hours per week.
The development of the gaming industry has never stopped, the gaming industry has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the 1970s. From early arcade games such as Pong to today’s shooters that feature life-like graphics. Games have become a global phenomenon with billions of players around the world, and there are more and more new interesting projects, startups, and innovative discoveries in this area that encourage investors to invest big money in the video game industry.
But the process of creating video games is always a lot of work and time. Companies or a group of developers invest a significant amount of resources to create a game, and reliable copyright protection is an integral part of the project itself. When we play games, we can see the location, music, internal navigation, software, and characters depicted – all created by authors (artists, musicians, producers, designers), and therefore are certainly subject to copyright.
Characters are given special attention, since the plot of the game itself is based on characters, and there are several reasons why a character in a video game should be protected by copyright.
To protect the creator’s investment, developing video game characters can be a time-consuming and expensive process. Copyright protection helps to ensure that the creator can recoup their investment and profit from their work.
Preventing unauthorized use
Copyright protection prevents third parties from using a character without the permission of the copyright owner. This helps to protect the author’s reputation and ensure that the character is used in a way that is consistent with the author’s vision or within the scope of the license granted.
Copyright protection encourages authors to develop new and innovative characters. This is important for the video game industry because it helps to ensure a constant flow of new and exciting games, and thus fosters creativity.
Copyright protection for video game characters is important both for the creators of these characters and for the video game industry as a whole. It helps to ensure that the creators are remunerated for their hard work, that their characters are used in accordance with the rights holder’s vision, and that the video game industry continues to grow.
Interesting cases of copyright infringement of a character in a video game
“Cade Janus vs. Activision Blizzard
One of the most famous copyright infringement lawsuits involving a video game character is the Cade Janus case against Activision Blizzard. In 2021, writer and photographer Clayton Haugen filed a lawsuit against Activision 
Blizzard, claiming that the company’s character “Mara” from the game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” was copied from his copyrighted character “Cade Janus”. Haugen claimed that the two characters were “virtually identical”, with the same appearance, clothing and backstory.
Activision Blizzard denied the allegations, claiming that both characters were created independently of each other. The case is still ongoing, and it remains to be seen whether Haugen will succeed in his lawsuit.
Nintendo vs. Epic Games
In February 2022, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Epic Games, claiming that the popular battle royale game Fortnite infringed on the copyright of the Nintendo Super Mario character.
In particular, Nintendo claimed that Epic Games used Mario’s image in the Battle Royale game mode as well as in the Creative game mode. Nintendo also claimed that Epic Games used other copyrighted elements of the Super Mario franchise in Fortnite, such as the Mushroom Kingdom and the Koopa Troopa squad.
Epic Games responded to Nintendo’s claim denying any wrongdoing. Epic Games argued that the use of Mario’s image and other copyrighted elements of the Super Mario franchise was protected by the right of fair use. Epic Games argued that Nintendo’s claim was an attempt to suppress competition.
The court proceedings are still ongoing and it is not yet clear what decision will be made.
Disney vs TT Games
In March 2023, Disney filed a lawsuit against TT Games, the developer of the mobile game Disney Heroes: Battle Mode. Disney claimed that the game infringed on its copyrights by using Disney characters and likenesses without permission. In particular, Disney pointed to the similarities between the characters in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode and Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy.
TT Games has denied the allegations and stated that it will vigorously defend itself against the allegations in the lawsuit. The case is still ongoing and it is unclear what the outcome will be.
From this, we can conclude that copyright protection is an integral part of the video game industry, and there are always risks that someone may copy your character. Therefore, we offer step-by-step instructions on how to obtain additional copyright protection for a character in a video game in Ukraine:
How to register copyright on your own
- Your character must be unique: original and not copied from any other source.
- Prepare video game objects (for example, images, descriptions, 3D character models) in the form of high-quality files that can be “read” by commonly available applications of government agencies.
- File an application for copyright registration for a character with a government agency.
- Provide a detailed description of the character in the game.
- Pay the necessary state fees for copyright registration.
- These documents should be sent to the National Intellectual Property Authority.
- If you are not the author of the character, but you have acquired the rights under a contract, you can also register such a contract and obtain a decision on the transfer of copyright to the work.
Upon completion of the registration procedure, which takes about 2-3 months, you will receive a “Certificate of Copyright Registration for a Work” or a “Decision” (if it is a case of registration of a rights transfer agreement):
– the title of the work;
– the name of the author or the name of the legal entity or the name of the individual copyright holder;
– registration number of the certificate or decision and date of registration;
– the name of the National Intellectual Property Authority of Ukraine that issued the document and the signature of the authorized person.
- The abstract (annotation) of the work, the author’s full name, the name or full name of the owner of the rights, the title of the work, the date and number of registration will be published in the regular official bulletin of the National Intellectual Property Authority of Ukraine.
- The registered work is stored in the archive of the National Intellectual Property Authority of Ukraine and is not published publicly.
- The Ukrainian copyright certificate is valid (without the need for maintenance) for the author’s lifetime in all countries that are parties to the Berne Convention.
Mark your character with a copyright notice
Also, after you have registered your character, you can mark such a character with a copyright notice. The copyright notice must contain the following information:
- Copyright © symbol
- Year of first publication
- Name or company name of the copyright holder
You can mark your character with a copyright notice on any copies of your character, such as in the game itself, on a website, or in marketing materials.
For more information, you can contact our law firm, and we will be happy to advise you or help you protect the rights to your character in a video game.
