Wait, didn’t we cover this on Tuesday? I think you meant “who are you to talk about video game law?”

First, I’m a gamer. I mentioned that I’ve been one longer than the Internet has been accessible to the masses, and I’ve even played possibly bootlegged games in Russian while I was abroad in the Peace Corps. (Я перегружен! Я не магу болЬше нести!) So I spend a lot of energy keeping up with video game releases and issues, and I’m definitely interested in using some of my passion for games with my legal training.

Second, I’m an attorney licensed to practice in Washington state, and I have an LLM in Intellectual Property Law and Policy from the University of Washington School of Law. That doesn’t mean I’m a certified specialist in IP law, because no bar organization will allow that, but it does mean that I spent a year learning and thinking about current IP issues relating to software development and the internet.

Also, I wrote my Master’s Thesis on Creative IP Rights Clearances for Video Game Developers from a practical perspective, so I’ve done a lot of research into this area, and I try to go to seminars on Development and Video Game issues as often as possible.

Finally, I find a lot of this stuff really fascinating, and want to share some of my hard-won knowledge with people who might find a use for it. And my friends and family, because that’s probably the extent of my audience  for the moment.

So there you are. I mostly know what I’m talking about, I’m really interested in games from both a player and a lawyer’s perspective, and I have a couple of degrees to back all that up.

Well, the current plan is to post every day, with each day having it’s own theme, hopefully.

Mondays I’m going to talk about a current or important case or statute involving video game law, while Tuesday will be a catch-all of random things that don’t fit into the other days. This week’s Tuesday post was basically a delayed Monday posting.

Wednesdays are going to be a discussion of a hot topic relating to gaming, while the last two days are going to be a bit more “fun” with the sharing of videos and other media on Thursday, and a video game review to round out the week. Keep in mind that these themes are subject to change as time passes, and this post may be edited to reflect those changes.

Really hot topics will be posted as they occur, such as the Activision/Infinity Ward hoopla of a few months back.