Gaming & Esports
Since the inception of e-sports in Japan, our attorneys have been providing expert advice to a range of stakeholders, such as international game companies, management organizations, sponsors, event organizers, and players, helping them navigate the complex legal landscape.
Our firm’s recent gaming-related services include:
- Conducted due diligence on gaming law compliance for a European game publisher intending to distribute games in Japan.
- Represented a game publisher in filing a notification to the Financial Services Agency as an issuer of prepaid payment instruments under the Payment Services Act.
- Providing legal advice and drafting tournament rules for organizing competitions with cash prizes or other rewards.
- Provided legal advice to game publishers on necessary display items under the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions for the sale of in-game currency, and drafted these display items.
- Offering legal guidance and drafting management agreements between e-sports players and their respective teams.
- Represented a game publisher in filing a notification to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications based on Article 16, Paragraph 1 of the Telecommunications Business Act.
- Advising on laws and regulations pertaining to e-sports and gaming, such as the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations, Act on Specified Commercial Transactions, Entertainment Business Act, Penal Code, among others.
- Resolved a dispute over the termination of a contract between a professional team and a player.
- Provided legal advice from the perspective of the Act Against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations, Trademark Law, and Advertising Material Ordinances, etc., for TV and OOH (Out-of-Home) advertisements by a game publisher.
- Drafted and provided legal advice on sponsor contracts for gaming and eSports-related events.
Furthermore, our firm operates and maintains a specialized e-sports legal website. For more information, please refer to the following link: Mori & Partners – Specialized Website for e-Sports & Gaming Businesses.
Our firm’s articles on this topic are as follows:
- Acquiring Mobile Gaming Enterprises: Seven Essential Legal Due Diligence Checkpoints
- Organising Esports Tournaments in Japan: Navigating Legal Challenges and Implementing Practical Solutions – Part 1
- Organising Esports Tournaments in Japan: Navigating Legal Challenges and Implementing Practical Solutions – Part 2
- Enactment of Japan’s Smartphone Software Competition Promotion Act: Paving the Way for Fair Competition and Game Publisher Growth
- Brand Protection in the Japanese Gaming Industry: Actions and Penalties Rights-Holders Can Pursue When Their Products Are Copied
- Fair and Square? Understanding Esports Player Contracts in the Japanese Market
- Call of Legal Duty: Navigating the Payment Services Act for In-game Currency in Japan
- Esports Legal News – Esports M&A in Japan: DD Checklist before Fusion
- Esports Legal News – Brand Protection in the Japanese Gaming Industry