User-Generated Content in Gaming: Legal Challenges and Narrative Frameworks
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City St George's, University of London
United Kingdom
Abstract
The video gaming landscape is experiencing transformational change with a massive growth in user-generated content (UGC), where players actively contribute to the gaming experience by creating and sharing their own content in a virtual world. This article seeks to investigate the complex interplay between user-generated content, the legal challenges it presents and the narrative frameworks that shape legal responses within the dynamic realm of the gaming industry. The advent of user-generated content has redefined the traditional boundaries of video gaming, giving players unprecedented opportunities for creativity and self-expression; however, the process is not without legal challenges. For example, one should examine the copyright issues and analyse the legal intricacies when players generate and share content within video games and explore the tensions between user creativity on one hand and intellectual property protection on the other. It is vitally important to investigate how legal frameworks and prevailing narratives surrounding UGC influence incentives for game developers to foster player creativity and examine the role of narratives in shaping approaches in their end-user licence agreement. The aim of this article is to examine the legal challenges of UGC in video games, with a focus on the processes influencing policy decisions and framing intellectual property protection.
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Author Biography
United KingdomDr Despoina Farmaki is a Lecturer at City St George's, University of London, where she is also a member of the Digital, AI and Technology Strategy Group and the Intellectual Property Engagement Group. Her teaching expertise includes Intellectual Property Law, Internet Law, Video Game Regulation and Online Platforms, and Contract Law. She is also the Chief Academic Officer at Esports Legal News and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Dr Farmaki’s research lies at the intersection of Intellectual Property and Technology, with a particular focus on the video game industry. She has published in leading journals such as the Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice, the Interactive Entertainment Law Review, the Journal of AI Law and Regulation, and the Esports Yearbook. In addition, she has contributed to edited collections on video games and esports law.
She has presented her work at academic conferences, addressing topics including user-generated content in gaming and the role of artificial intelligence in legal education. She is also a qualified lawyer in Greece.
