Lawyers from Altai State University published a monograph on legal regulation in the field of computer games

The Altai State University Publishing House has published the book “Computer Games: In Search of a Legal Model.” The monograph was prepared by a team of authors under the general editorship of Doctor of Law, Professor of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law of Altai State University Anton Vasiliev.

The team of authors also included Doctor of Law, Professor, Head of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law, Director of the Center for Research of Problems of Information and Digital Transformation of St. Petersburg State University Vladislav Arkhipov; Candidate of Legal Sciences, Head of the Center for Practical Jurisprudence and Digital Competencies of the State Academic University of Humanities, Head of the Computer Games, Creative Industries and Technologies Practice at the Central District Law Agency Nikolay Andreev; a lecturer at the Department of Theory and History of State and Law at Altai State University Yulia Pechatnova.

The collective monograph examines the legal aspects of the computer games industry based on a philosophical reading of the world of computer games. The study overcomes the one-sided critical view of computer games as something frivolous and often harmful. The authors argue the thesis about the social significance of computer games, their real presence in social practice. The work examines models of legal regulation of computer games, the relationship between law and computer games, problems of the legal nature of “virtual property”, taxation in the computer games industry and other aspects. The monograph was prepared with the financial support of the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 22-28-00433 “Computer games industry: in search of a legal model.”

“The topic of legal regulation in the computer games industry has practically no scientific and regulatory elaboration. There was a gap for a long time; the area was new in all respects. The set of self-regulation rules that developed within the computer world was created by game creators, to which players actually obeyed by signing a user agreement. These rules were not always on the player’s side. Moreover, both the legislator and judicial practice have long followed the path that claims arising from games, including computer games, cannot be defended in court. This limited the scope of litigation related to computer games. However, legal issues certainly exist in this industry. For example, protecting the author’s rights to the game itself, to the objects that are created in this space. There is a circulation of virtual values and artifacts, which are purchased for real money. There are situations of hacking, theft of accounts and the use of these artifacts by others. All this requires legal assessment. Our team includes highly qualified experts: a leading representative in this area, Vladislav Arkhipov, and his colleague Nikolai Andreev, who are pioneers in the study of legal protection of the interests of persons who participate in computer games and in computer sports in general. No analogues of this book have been published in Russia in recent years,” said Anton Vasiliev.

The book may be useful to philosophers, lawyers, sociologists, teachers and students of law faculties of higher educational institutions.