On March 21st, a training session dedicated to the supervision of related and ancillary commercial activities of lawyers, including their ethical implications, was held at the Maison des Avocats.

Paris Bar Incubator – Digitization of the profession

At the request of numerous entrepreneurial colleagues, the Paris Bar Incubator offered a training session to all lawyers who had completed the incubation program provided by the IBP (Institut de Formation Professionnelle).

The training, led by Amaury Sonet (BFPL Avocats), a member of the Bar Council, and Pierre Xavier Chomiac de Sas (PCS Avocat), focused on issues related to the digitalization of the legal profession and the development of digital service offerings from legaltech and/or lawtech companies. This was followed by a session dedicated to the rules governing lawyers’ professional communication, specifically in the context of related and ancillary commercial activities.

Lawyers’ Legaltech – Related Business Activities

The applicable rules have evolved considerably since 2015. On April 7, 2023, the National Bar Council, in a resolution concerning exceptional commercial activities and the application of professional ethics to lawyers managing companies, reiterated the strict and full application of all ethical rules, particularly the National Internal Regulations (RIN), to lawyers developing commercial activities related to their profession. This position contrasts with the policy previously pursued by the Paris Bar.

This training session provided an opportunity to exchange ideas with lawyers and answer all the technical and practical questions they may have regarding the development of their projects.

The very positive feedback from this first edition of the ethics training sessions encourages the organization of further workshops on these topics for colleagues interested in developing legal tech tools.

At the request of the entrepreneurial bar association, and building on the success of the training provided to lawyers from the Paris Bar, Me Chomiac de Sas & Débora Cohen (DC Avocat) once again spoke on the legal and ethical rules governing lawyers’ communication, particularly on social media.

Their presentation outlined the various regulations and relevant authorities before detailing the principles governing lawyer communication and the characteristics of communication on social media.

Find more details about the training content.

TikTok, Instagram & influencer lawyers

The sensitive issue of “influencer lawyers” has been addressed through the risks associated with these new practices, warning colleagues against the illicit activity of commercial influencers or online content creators whose work violates essential principles and has no connection to the legal profession.

Invited once again to provide training to lawyers affiliated with the EDA Aliénor law school, Pierre-Xavier Chomiac de Sas has begun his training program dedicated to digital law and new technologies.

The first training session of the year focused on the legal framework surrounding virtual reality, augmented reality, and metaverse technologies. We thank the colleagues who participated in our presentation.

PCS Avocat is a law firm specializing in digital law and has been providing training for over ten years in universities, law schools, and bar schools throughout France on all topics related to digital law: business law, internet and ICT, esports and video games, GDPR and personal data, intellectual property, and cybersecurity.

More information on the topics covered.

Esports, influencers & communication – Lawyer training

The end of 2024 will revisit other topics in digital law, including:

• June 6, 2024: New digital practices for lawyers and the ethical framework governing these rules;
• September 10, 2024: The rights of influencers, YouTubers, and streamers;
• September 10, 2024: Video game and esports law;

We remain available for any training related to these topics. Find all our presentations in the dedicated section.

At the initiative of Malik Ammich, president of the GDMK association, Me Chomiac de Sas discussed the legal issues associated with protecting a video game throughout its development.

A video game industry professional for over ten years, Mr. Ammich founded the GDMK association, an incubator dedicated to independent video game creators, providing them with expertise, training, and a professional network.

Read the full interview:

Creating a video game: the rise of independent games vs. AAA games

The independent game market has experienced significant growth in recent years, in contrast to AAA video game titles.

In fact, they rely on very different economic and creative models. Independent games have distinguished themselves in recent years through very high profitability due to reduced development costs, innovation and creativity in content and gameplay, and attractive prices for the gaming community.

Conversely, AAA games – a term used to describe major video game productions with average investments exceeding €100 million – have experienced several setbacks that have called their profitability into question: Alan Wake 2, Xdefiant (Ubisoft), Concord (Firewalk Studios/Sony), Prince of Persio: The Lost Crown, etc.

The economic models of some games based on microtransactions and additional content (DLC) have been criticized and even called into question, leading to the closure of the studios that created them.

Independent (indie) games and AAA games have very different economic and creative models, which influences their respective profitability. While indie games have not yet surpassed AAA games in terms of overall revenue, they are becoming increasingly competitive.

Indie video games: Choosing your monetization methods

Independent video game studios face crucial challenges when choosing their revenue models for the exploitation of their games. These choices, whether they concern game engine accessibility, the economic model (free-to-play, loot boxes, NFTs, etc.), or in-game monetization mechanisms, can impact the smooth operation of video games.

Video games: Free-to-play games are dependent on the game engines used by the studios.

When developing a game’s business model, the studio must keep in mind that this choice makes the game more or less vulnerable to industry fluctuations. Indeed, free-to-play games are particularly sensitive to changes in game engine pricing, which can impact the player.

The example of the Unity engine and its pricing policy changes is particularly telling: In September 2023, Unity announced the introduction of a new tax based on the number of game installations, applicable retroactively even to titles already published. This decision provoked an outcry within the independent developer community, with many threatening to abandon the engine in favor of competitors. Faced with this massive backlash, Unity quickly reversed course, removing the controversial Runtime Fee.

This situation highlighted the vulnerability of independent studios to policy changes by development tool providers. Independent developers need to diversify their skills and tools to reduce their dependence on these suppliers, on whom they are still too reliant.

Loot boxes in video games: a false bargain for studios

Emerging in the 2010s, “loot boxes” became a new way to monetize video game content by offering players a paid, randomized bonus: new maps, characters, items, game mechanics, and more.

Widely criticized for disrupting the balance and fairness of the game, loot boxes brought the legal issues associated with gambling into the video game industry, as they incorporate its two main components: the payment of money and a random prize.

Online gaming regulatory authorities in various countries have addressed this issue, with some banning this type of payment in video games. The aim is to protect vulnerable populations (minors, those banned from gambling), and to continue their efforts to combat excessive gambling, fraud, and money laundering. In response, some publishers have adopted a policy of transparency by indicating the probabilities of obtaining certain virtual objects, and countries like Belgium and the Netherlands prohibit these practices.

Video games, in-game items, blockchain and NFTs

From the moment in-game purchases appeared in video games, new content emerged to extend the game’s lifespan and thus maximize its profitability through the “game as a service” model.

Following this trend, blockchain technology has been used to monetize in-game virtual content in the form of “NFTs”—unique digital files that can be traded.

The resale potential of video game assets raises the issue of gambling and, more broadly, the resale of virtual accounts or content. It is precisely to avoid being labeled a casino that video game studios prohibit the resale of this content and retain all intellectual property rights in their game’s terms and conditions, granting players only a simple license to use the content, not ownership.

NFTs are also not a necessity for players, most of whom are satisfied with the classic model, as evidenced by Ubisoft’s attempts in the game “Ghost Recon Breakpoint” and Square Enix’s with “Symbiogenesis” to introduce NFTs, without it meeting with great success from the community.

Video game studios: How to protect your video game

Since the late 1980s, video games have been considered intellectual works (French Supreme Court, Plenary Assembly, March 7, 1986, No. 85-91.465), the diversity of whose content necessitates treating each of its components independently (level design, music, voice acting, storyline, etc.): this distributive regime has eliminated the historical application of software law to video games.

As complex works, video game studios must be particularly vigilant in protecting the intellectual property of all these elements to ensure their smooth operation and prevent any infringement by competitors.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools and video games

 The development and accessibility of generative AI in recent years have raised the question of intellectual property rights for generated content. Jurisdictions have long recognized that copyright cannot be attributed to robots, or by extension to their owners, unless a personal creative process is involved.

The use of AI tools has brought these issues back to the forefront, particularly regarding the potential ownership of generated content, or at least the licensing and exploitation rights stipulated in the terms and conditions.

However, it might be conceivable to establish intellectual property rights for AI-generated content in favor of the user who initiated the request, provided they justify and document the entire creative process, including the correction and modification of the initial, neutral content to arrive at a final product reflecting their personality.

Under these conditions, video game studios using content generated by artificial intelligence tools must anticipate and plan for the fact that the ownership of these elements may be contested and re-exploited by third parties unless they can justify in legal texts the originality and personal involvement of the artists who guided the AI ​​in their creations.

Fangames and in-game creations by players

Fangames are video games inspired by pre-existing works. They generally reuse the design, gameplay, or universe/lore of an existing game. Such games may be permitted but require the explicit authorization of the studio that owns the original game, the source of inspiration. Without this agreement, the game’s content can be considered copyright infringement, a crime punishable by three years imprisonment and a €300,000 fine.

Mods and in-game creations: tolerated or prohibited? Some publishers allow mods—creations made by players using game elements—by providing integrated creation tools or mentioning them in their terms of service.

• Without explicitly authorizing them, other publishers simply tolerate modifications without officially acknowledging them.

• Conversely, some strictly prohibit mods, particularly in competitive multiplayer games, where their use can lead to sanctions such as banning.

Cheat software: a legal gray area? According to case law, cheat programs do not constitute copyright infringement when they do not directly alter the software itself, but only the temporary data stored in RAM. This decision is based on a strict interpretation of the software’s copyright, without excluding other forms of legal action.

Before developing a fan game, a mod, or a tool related to a game, it is best to familiarize yourself with the publisher’s policy to avoid any legal risks.

A new training session for students at Gaming Campus (Lyon) focused on analyzing the legal issues and challenges related to the development of the esports sector. Aimed at students in their final year of studies, who are completing work-study placements within professional esports organizations – event organizers, esports clubs, and content producers – the session provided an opportunity to review the legal framework governing esports in France since 2016 and then to address the legal issues faced by the various stakeholders in esports. Topics covered included analyzing contractual relationships between players and organizations, monetization strategies for video game publishers, and the administrative obligations of event organizers.

The various contemporary challenges facing esports have led to discussions on the general terms and conditions of video game titles, the positioning of social networks on gaming topics, particularly X, Twitch, YouTube, and more recently Kickstarter, and the role of mobile gaming platforms and virtual reality systems.

Building upon the seminar’s content, the legal publication “Esports Professions Law Fact Sheets,” published in November 2022, effectively addresses the questions and concerns of students, some of whom are completing work-study programs in leading esports organizations.

Guided by a professionalizing pedagogy, the students selected projects and analytical topics that provide them with genuine expertise directly applicable to industry professionals.

Protecting the health of esports players

Similar in many ways to athletes, the working conditions of competitive video game players expose them to numerous risks to their physical and, especially, mental health. The widespread occurrence of stress and burnout raises the question of how esports players’ health is managed by their professional partners.

Despite the legal framework introduced in 2016 with the Law for a Digital Republic, the use of esports player employment contracts is largely rejected by all stakeholders in the sector. These contracts, however, offer the protections of the Labor Code regarding employee safety and security. Conversely, the status of service provider, currently used predominantly, if not exclusively, does not, in principle, guarantee any protection to players in this area.

Some organizations have shown a willingness to provide elements in this direction aimed at optimizing their performance – mental coaches, doctors, etc. The question of the potential liability of the stakeholders involved – agencies, esports clubs, organizers, and/or publishers – remains thorny and complex.

Dopa/Apdo, the anti-esports player

Jeong “Apdo” Sang-gil is a Korean video game player who gained significant notoriety in the gaming industry through his social media content. His exceptional skills—particularly in solo queue—and his Elo boosting services made him a leading figure in the “League of Legends” video game.

Gradually identified by publisher Riot Games, Dopa’s esports career was halted for breaches of the game’s EULAs/UCLs. He had a large online following, watching his content shared across all continents via social media.

The business models of esports structures

Now largely obsolete, economic models based solely on esports team performance and the chances of winning prize money have given way to sponsorship and partnership funding, largely bolstered by teams backed by gaming industry influencers.

However, new forms and experiments in team structure appear to be emerging, particularly through the offering of innovative products and services directly by organizations alongside their participation in video game competitions.

Analysis of the G2 structure, emblematic of esports

Present in numerous competitive circuits and video game titles since 2013, the Spanish organization G2 offers an atypical example of the conditions under which an esports organization is created, developed, adapted, and evolved.

Various issues have hampered its growth – including the terminated partnership with the CS:GO Roll platform.

Esports club sponsorship

The main source of funding for esports teams, the wide variety of forms of advertising partnerships – patronage, sponsorship, partnership, sponsorship, red carpet, ambassador, etc. – and the respective expectations of the parties involved, make their signing and negotiation complex for esports teams.

Furthermore, advertising law is particularly dense and complex. Numerous national and EU texts offer definitions of advertising that vary in precision, focusing on criteria that are often redundant. Specific, more stringent regulations exist for certain products, potentially leading to limitations or even outright prohibitions. These restrictions are justified by the need to protect public order and health, and to defend economic or consumer interests.

This is notably the case for advertising related to tobacco, certain food products, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, violent or pornographic content, firearms, political advertising, job offers, and online gambling. It also applies to consumer credit, financial products, travel and holidays, automobiles, and so on.

Several examples of difficulties encountered during unfortunate partnerships have thus shaped the evolution of the esports sector: the esports team “Team YouPorn” was quickly banned from participating in esports events in 2016, recalling a similar situation experienced by the Carcassonne rugby team and its failed partnership with the pornographic brand “Jacquie & Michel,” this time at the request of the French Rugby Federation. Such partnerships are incompatible with competition regulations, the family and/or minor audience of the event, and, for some, the promotion through underage players.

However, a major challenge in attracting new partners is demonstrating profitable and successful partnerships by organizations and respecting their obligations. This is a decisive factor for the future and economic stability of the sector.

We can only reiterate our congratulations to the students for the quality of their projects and their commitment.

The law firm PCS Avocat participated in a seminar at the Gaming Campus in Paris, dedicated to students in computer science and video game development, focusing on intellectual property law.

Committed to training industry professionals and raising their awareness of key issues in the video game sector, the students were able to analyze, through practical examples, the rights and limitations granted in copyright law, which can hinder or concern those involved in the video game industry.

Find all our training courses for industry professionals and related news.

Once again, we congratulate all the students for their dedication to the projects they supported during this week of training and for the quality of their choice of topics.

Fangames & Modds: Video games by fans

In line with the broader legal issues surrounding player-created games and modding, the intellectual property rights of fan games are particularly relevant. As a composite work under intellectual property law, the use of fan games is necessarily contingent upon the authorization of the video game’s copyright holder.

However, provided they can demonstrate the creation of original elements in terms of gameplay, script, and graphics, creators may be able to benefit from copyright protection only for elements external to the original game.

As part of the game development process itself, publishers are increasingly regulating the use and exploitation of mods and fan games.

League of Legends: a difficult intellectual property protection

As the first video game license dedicated to esports, League of Legends has faced, and continues to face, challenging legal protection under intellectual property law.

Originating from a custom map within Warcraft 3, the creation of the “Dota” mod and its variations—League of Legend, Dota 2, Wildrift, Heroes of the Storm, etc.—is the subject of ongoing legal battles against new studios developing similar, if not identical, games, particularly on mobile platforms.

Car brands in video games

For many years, automotive groups have recognized the potential of video games for promoting and advertising their cars. As a result, many driving simulation games and other forms of gameplay using vehicles incorporate car models and brands from renowned manufacturers – Ferrari, Porsche, Humvee, Jeep, etc.

Legal issues related to the licensing and use of these car brands and models frequently lead to various lawsuits aimed at protecting manufacturers’ intellectual property within the video game world.

On April 8, 2024, the French Court of Cassation, for example, refused to recognize the infringement of the 360 ​​Modena and F40 models from the Italian manufacturer Ferrari in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV.

In March 2020, after more than three years of legal proceedings, Activision Blizzard and its Call of Duty franchise were granted the right to include the Humvee brand, owned by AM General, in its games, based on the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. The inclusion of the Humvee in the game was deemed not to mislead the public about the origin, quality, or brand of the vehicles.

Finally, the long exclusivity contract between EA Games and the manufacturer Porsche, which ended in 2016, offered all video game studios the possibility of being able, subject to granted licenses, to integrate models from the German manufacturer into their video games.

One Piece: A prestigious license

The creation of derivative works inspired by the One Piece franchise raises numerous questions regarding their legality. Beyond the shared intellectual property rights between Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, and the manga publisher Vega (acquired by the Kadokawa Group), certain forms of exploitation, particularly fan art, cosplay, and 3D modeling, could be legally permitted under a variety of criteria, based on exceptions to intellectual property law.

Private copies, the degree of inspiration and transformation of scanned works, legal interpretations and case law in different states, and the tolerance of publishers are all factors that can influence the exploitation of products created from the world of the famous pirate.

Palworld: a legal Pokemon knock-off?

A revelation in the video game world in recent weeks, Pale World has enjoyed phenomenal success upon its release, with several million installations in just a few days. This success is linked to a major legal issue affecting the game: its graphical and even mechanical similarities to the famous Pokémon franchise.

The striking resemblances in both the game mechanics and the creatures featured raise serious doubts about the game’s legality, both in terms of intellectual property and unfair competition.

The use of artificial intelligence tools for the design of the creatures, potentially based on images of Nintendo’s creations, exacerbates the risk of copyright infringement.

The coming weeks will reveal Nintendo’s strategic choices regarding whether to sue the publisher Pocket Pair Inc. for plagiarism, and to identify the legal arguments supporting its claims.

Tom Clancy’s: Ubisoft & its partners

A flagship franchise from Ubisoft and based on the literary works of the eponymous novelist, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and The Division represent a significant body of work in the video game industry and its esports counterpart.

The structuring and evolution of the rights associated with the exploitation of this franchise, both in terms of video game creation and the licensing of related merchandise, proved to be a very interesting topic for students in computer science programs.

Unity, a controversial game engine leader

The first 3D engine used for video game creation, owned by the eponymous studio, announced a new pricing policy in early 2024 involving an additional cost for its developers, now tied not to game sales but to installation (Plus & Personal editions).

As software, Unity remains the intellectual property of the company that develops it and makes it available to professionals under license. The choice of access and usage conditions, and consequently its pricing, remains entirely at Unity’s discretion, much to the dismay of its partner studios.

The future, however, looks set to be marked by very strong competition from products like Godo and Unreal Engine, challenging Unity’s historical monopoly in the video game engine market.

ROMs & Emulators: “Composite Works”

The market for emulators and ROMs of old video games, supposedly “abandoned” by their publishers or rights holders, and whose marketing is now obsolete, is nevertheless experiencing growing interest among the gaming public.

Emulators constitute a form of reverse engineering of a console’s software and its BIOS. Legally, this act constitutes copyright infringement, as reaffirmed by the French Supreme Court’s (Cour de cassation) protected status (March 7, 1986).

Subject to the rules of the Intellectual Property Code, and even if the studios and rights holders of the games were to abandon their exploitation, the video games and consoles in question cannot legally be offered for sale until the acquired rights expire, seventy years after the author’s death.

Recently, Nintendo won a lawsuit against the hosting provider Dstorage and its website 1fichier.com for failing to remove or block access to illegal copies of Nintendo games hosted on its platform, despite Nintendo’s formal notices to do so.

An intensive training seminar was held the week of December 4, 2023, at the Gaming Campus (Lyon), focusing on digital law, video games, and esports.

Students in the G Tech program analyzed numerous successful video game studios and franchises. The objective was to identify the various applicable legal issues, particularly with regard to business law, intellectual property, media law, advertising law, and, of course, video games and esports.

Topics covered included:

• Esports at Nintendo and Riot Games;
• Search engines such as Unreal Engine, CryEngine, and Unity;
• Microsoft’s acquisition of Blizzard;
• Studios such as miHoYo, FromSoftware, Nintendo, Rockstar, Epic Games, and Ubisoft;
• Franchises such as Disney, Zelda, and Arcane;
• Contemporary events such as Squeezie’s GP Explorer.

Congratulations to all the students who presented high-quality thesis defenses.té.

A regular speaker at the various Gaming Quest school campuses since 2019, PCS Avocat & Pierre-Xavier Chomiac de Sas offer training courses on digital law, intellectual property, video games & esports, and the law governing entrepreneurs & startups. Find all our presentations and training courses offered this year in the dedicated section.

The year 2023 ended with another seminar organized by the law firm PCS Avocat at the Gaming Campus (Paris) to support second-year students in a course module dedicated to entrepreneurship and corporate law.

For one week, in a sprint format, the students were trained on the legal issues related to creating startups and the responsibilities of entrepreneurs.

At the end of their training, they presented their projects, primarily focused on analyzing communication and video game companies to identify their specific characteristics, operations, and structure.

Video game industry: Legal problems and solutions specific to each sector

Numerous video game studios were analyzed, including Nintendo, Blizzard (particularly through the lens of its acquisition by Microsoft), Motion Twin, Ankama, Game Freak (creator of the Pokémon franchise), and others.

More broadly focused companies were also studied, such as the Chinese giant Tencent and esports organizations.

Students were able to grapple with the legal and technical issues associated with the activities and structures of the companies analyzed: limited liability companies (SARL or SAS), worker cooperatives (SCOP), shareholder agreements, exclusivity clauses, general terms and conditions, fundraising preparation, etc.

Congratulations to the students for this new session and their involvement in these projects.

Find our other presentations and training courses.

A recap of Me Chomiac de Sas’s latest training session at IXAD – the Northwest Regional Law School – on November 14th, which focused on the legal framework for influencer activity.

This training is part of an IXAD training cycle dedicated to digital law:

• The law of the metaverse and virtual reality took place on October 6th. Find the presentation of the training here.
• The law of video games and esports will take place on December 7th.

Influencer Law: Communication, Internet, Advertising & GDPR

The training provided allowed professionals in the sector to understand the legal issues related to influencer activity, which underwent significant changes in 2023. Following the introduction of several draft laws, a specific legal framework applicable to commercial influencers came into effect.

Behind the wide variety of influencer activities, a range of legal and regulatory provisions apply:

These include rules governing communication, particularly audiovisual communication, rules governing the internet and online public communication, the liability of platform hosts – especially social media platforms – and the editorial responsibility of influencers regarding published content, the organization of social networks and their access conditions for influencers, and regulations concerning the protection of personal data, including the recent GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation.

In addition to these legal areas, all the classic subjects related to business law, labor law, tax law, press law, intellectual property, or specific regulations depending on the products or services considered are also applicable.

Influencers: Sweepstakes, dropshipping, child influencers

Through a series of examples and practices observed in the sector, Me Chomiac de Sas’s training session analyzed the various legal issues that influencers may face:

• In criminal law, the new offenses of online raids and online mob harassment were discussed. The Marvel Fitnesse & Milla cases were among those addressed;
• In advertising law, the evolution of promotional methods used by influencers, particularly those subject to penalties under the Evin Law concerning the advertising of alcoholic products, was examined;
• In family law, the complex relationships between child influencers and their parents or legal guardians, producers, and organizers of digital content creation were explored, notably the cases of Daddy O Five, Neo & Swann, etc.
• In gambling law, many influencers offer online contests and lotteries through their platforms, the terms of which are strictly regulated by the Internal Security Code and overseen by the National Gaming Authority.

The discussion also highlighted the contemporary challenges related to the excesses observed on social media, primarily targeting influencers who are victims of so-called toxic practices.

In this context, and faced with the lack of mobilization from social media platforms, movements to report illegal behavior involving harassment or assault against female influencers have been denounced through hashtags such as #balancetonInfluenceur (expose your influencer) and #twitchmetoo.

Similarly, the major role of certain platforms in regulating and controlling content has allowed for a presentation of the key differences between social networks, notably Instagram vs. TikTok, Twitter vs. Snapchat, and OnlyFans vs. Mym.

Their obligations and responsibilities are currently undergoing significant reform within the European Union through the entry into force of the recent Digital Services Act.

It establishes a set of rules to hold digital platforms accountable and combat the dissemination of illegal or harmful content or illegal products: racist attacks, child pornography, disinformation, the sale of drugs or counterfeit goods, etc. This legislation replaces the so-called e-commerce directive of June 8, 2000, which had become outdated.

The Digital Services Act includes numerous measures to strengthen the fight against illegal content, promote online transparency, regulate targeted advertising to minors, and mitigate risks and respond to crises within platforms.

Influencers: a new legal framework in 2023

Following a series of scandals in the sector, including illegal dropshipping, promotion of illicit or regulated products or services, and even online fraud and exploitation of vulnerable individuals, legislators have identified abuses by industry professionals and established a legal framework outlining the applicable rules. In less than three months, no fewer than five bills have been introduced, targeting the regulation of influencer advertising, the prevention of illegal business practices, the fight against abuses, and the specific protection of child influencers.

Bill of November 15, 2022 – Commercial and advertising practices related to influence

Bill of December 15, 2022 – Strengthening the prevention of illegal commercial practices

Bill of December 27, 2022 – Combating influencer abuses on social media

Bill of January 19, 2023 – Respect for children’s image rights

Bill of January 31, 2023 – Combating scams and influencer abuses on social media

LThe status of child influencers had already been subject to legal frameworks initiated in 2020 to integrate the activity of child influencers into the provisions of the Labor Code relating to child labor. It thus aligns with the regulations applicable to child models, actors, athletes, fairground workers, and esports players.

The bill is currently in its second reading in the Senate.

It is part of a training course offered at the EFB – Paris Bar School in December 2023 on the topic of the exploitation of children’s images, following up on a publication in the LexisNexis – Family Law journal.

Find our various publications and presentations on this topic.

Contemporary regulations concerning influencers cover, on the one hand, the initial definition of commercial influence, as well as the rules in place regarding consumer information, dropshipping, the relationships between influencers, advertisers, and influence agents, and finally, the penalties related to illegal practices.

Formalized by Law No. 2023-451 of June 9, 2023, “Natural or legal persons who, for a fee, leverage their reputation with their audience to communicate electronically to the public content aimed at promoting, directly or indirectly, goods, services, or any cause whatsoever, are engaging in electronic commercial influence.”

Consumer information regarding commercial influence now includes conditions for limited, prohibited, or regulated advertising, particularly in the areas of cosmetic surgery and medicine, financial products and services, counterfeit goods, nicotine sachets, subscriptions to sports advice or predictions, advertising involving wild animals, the promotion of gambling and the protection of minors, and registrations for professional training courses (CPF account), specifying the financing methods, eligibility rules, and identification of the training provider.

Our firm has been practicing in the field of new technologies and digital law for ten years. We assist all professionals in the sector, including influencers, talent agencies, and more generally, creators and producers of audiovisual and digital content.

At the request of IXAD – the Northwest Regional School of Lawyers – Pierre-Xavier Chomiac de Sas was pleased to offer a professional training course on the metaverse and virtual reality to lawyers from the Hauts-de-France and Upper Normandy Bars.

This presentation is part of a series of training courses dedicated to new technologies and digital law, which will subsequently include “Influencer Law” and then “Video Game and Esports Law,” scheduled for the end of 2023. Contact us for more information about our courses and training dates.

PCS Avocat is a law firm specializing in digital law and has been providing training for over ten years in universities, law schools, and bar schools throughout France on all topics related to digital law: business law, internet and ICT, esports and video games, GDPR and personal data, intellectual property, and cybersecurity.

Metaverse and Virtual Reality: Definitions and Realities

Largely promoted by Meta’s (formerly Facebook) marketing campaign in 2020, the concept of the metaverse is defined as “a category of persistent and synchronous online platform offering a variety of online services and providing intermediation services within virtual worlds, possessing their own economy and accessible to a large number of users simultaneously and immersively, notably through avatar representation.”

Behind this definition lie technical, economic, and legal realities related to technological tools, software, and products/services made available to users, whether individuals, consumers, or professionals.

It can take particularly varied forms, including social networking spaces such as Facebook’s Meta project, online advertising spaces, virtual or augmented reality sales platforms, cultural, sporting, or social experiences (concerts within video games, football competitions viewed in mixed reality), and diverse online services in adapted environments (sandboxes) using traditional or Web 3 technologies.

Legal scholars have also increasingly focused on this issue, publishing legal analyses from various perspectives across different sectors and areas of law. In October 2022, an exploratory report was submitted to Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, and Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Telecommunications, analyzing metaverses and proposing ten levers for action to leverage this technological innovation. See the full report.

Legal professionals have also begun experimenting with virtual reality technologies in the areas of justice and trials, using virtual reality within a metaverse. This is notably the case with the initiative of the Paris Bar Association, in collaboration with the Paris Court of Justice, which staged the mock trial of Elin Mask on June 6th within the courthouse.

Metaverse & Virtual Reality: Legal Issues

Legally, this concept encompasses a multitude of questions on subjects as diverse as applicable statutory/contractual law, access control and content moderation, the regulation and protection of intellectual property rights for supporting software and all components constituting the metaverse, the processing of personal data, images and elements related to privacy, the management of commercial and contractual relationships within the metaverse, and more.

The legal challenges are diverse and multifaceted, impacting all areas of law: intellectual property, cybersecurity and criminal law, labor law and tax law, etc. While digital law offers some potential solutions, only a comprehensive framework based on a form of co-regulation of the sector can provide overall legal stability.

Find other training courses, presentations, and publications from the firm related to metaverses and virtual reality.