Copyrights, Videogames, and LAN Parties?

mse61 writes "I'm currently the sole organizer for what will hopefully be a large gamer club/LAN party on the campus of Bowling Green State University in Ohio. While booking the room for our next event (March 4th 2004) I was casually informed that I had to secure permission from the copyright holders for the games we would be playing. I was quite confused as to why they needed this, and their only answer was that it would be considered a 'public showing of copyrighted work', and therefore I must secure permission. I asked a lawyer about the policy and his best advice was to get a hard copy of their policy and then comply to the bare minimum. The University was unable to provide much hardcopy, but largely referred me to the University rule that all State and Federal laws were in effect. Have any Slashdotters ever run into this problem, and would they have any advice for a gamer lost in the mire of copyright laws?"

i'll support you!

i'm a grad student at BGSU in the music department -- let me know if you need help with this.

Actually...

I contacted the companies years ago when I organized a "LAN Day" sort of thing at Wayne State up in Detroit. It wasn't for clearance (nothing of that type was requested of me by the university) but all the companies I contacted responded and some even sent along doorprizes and gifts to be raffled off.

Call the companies. If there are any public performance issues they're the best ones to tell you if you need clearance. I suspect you don't, but it's always possible that if there is a audience (let's say you have a large bracket tournament for the best Halo player at BG), that the company might want you to get clearance, dictate that no cameras be present, etc...

Re:Actually...

Call various hardware companies as well if you need to defray costs. I know several of them will sponsor LAN parties

Copyrights

Our LUG has a monthly LAN party. We picked a LAN game that was easy enough for everyone in the group to afford: Unreal Game Of The Year -- Retail $10.00 at our local Wal-Mart. We temporarily store it on lab computers as necessary, and remove it after the game is over.

We require everyone present to have a licensed copy to play. Most people bring in their own boxes, and each have their own copy.

I suppose it depends on whether the players are using College property or their own personal property to play the game. It is in no way infringing for a group of people to bring in their own personal computer along with their own licensed copy of the game to have a gathering.

Check the license agreement, for example you don't need a licensed "standalone" game server for Unreal Tournament. The standalone server is publicly licensed, because nobody is using it as a client.

Yes I have

Hi, I was in charge of LAN parties for ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) at the University of Delaware. We had similar issues to the same ones you did and there's multiple ways to resolve it.

1) Some games have implied licensing. For example, say a certain game allows you only one copy of a key per internet server, but 4 copies of a given license per LAN server. Since this was done deliberately, it can be seen as an implicit contract since surely this was no accident.

2) I did multiple LAN parties. One of the things I realized reading the EULAs was that it was for one copy of the game to be "installed and played on one system". I then thought of the word "and". What I ended up doing, is making a contract [ashdreams.net] (doc format sorry) through which people gave us permission to use a copy of their game for our events. Given the above "install and use" restriction, the person isn't required to attend the event, merely not be using their copy of the game at the same time. From there, I noticed I had large pools of licenses for two games and simply split each LAN party into two parts (one playing each game). I'm fairly certain the general idea is kosher. I talked to our University's computer ethics advisor and a professional IP lawyer and both thought it sounded great.

I had further ideas, but since I graduated, I never got a chance to implement them. One was to buy copies of a game that for extra licenses and then sell them (at no profit) to people who attended the parties who liked the games (I got a lot of approval for this, but no funding in time for me to implement it before graduation).

Re:Yes I have

I had a similar idea a while back... the difference being that in mine it combined the "I'm not using it at the moment" idea with the "time shifting" idea. That is, you can use it for as long as I haven't used it. It's been a week or two since I've used it, so you should be good for well over two-hundred hours.

Re:Yes I have

A computer person that doesn't know that both conditions must be met in an and statement? You should read it as "installed on one system" (Assuming you correctly copied the EULA.) If both machines had it installed you violated the licensing agreement.

Not that I really mind.

Re:Yes I have

Unfortunately your LAN parties violated at least the UT2003 EULA. The UT2003 EULA specifies that it can only be installed on one hard drive and only played on the system with that hard drive. It further goes onto say that you cannot sublicense the game. In a long winded sentence with a bunch of other things you can't do, public display is listed. I am guessing you didn't provide all the EULAs to the ethics advisor or lawyer since your contract is not clearly not a legal way to play at least UT2003. By the way all of those licenses were void when sublicensed.

I am a grad student in the Coll of Tech at BGSU

Talk to Dr. Paul Cessarini and Dr. Chase Wilson, both very interested in copyright law and digital rights.

Also, why don't you post some details about the club online?

Re:I am a grad student in the Coll of Tech at BGSU

I'm confused as to why this could even be an issue. Aren't lan parties GREAT for companies? I know that if I made a game and a whole bunch of people who didn't know each other got together to play it, I'd be totally psyced. Were there any previous instances where a game publisher took or threatened legal action as a result of a lan party? I really have a hard time beliving that any publisher in their right mind would do such a thing.

Permissions

Playing games at a lan party isn't a public showing, unless you're providing both the games and the computers. If the participants are providing thier own machines and thier own copies of the game, then you need no such permission. If you want to play it on the safe side though, just call a few of the games' publishers and ask permission, or ask what you need to do to go about getting permission. My money's on the fact that not one of them will say 'no, you may not play our game at your lan party', and some might even provide cheap door prizes.

I've been running a LAN party [www.lotl.cc] with some friends for the last few years btw, so I'm not completely talking out of my ass. :)

Depends on the crowd

We use to have console parties in college dorms. As long as 100% of the audience were local students, no one cares.

It's when we turn the parties into a public display with an open invitation to anyone that it might become a legal matter. But still... there were no real paperwork needed. Just make sure all games were legit, non-copies etc etc.

Well

Chances are you don't, but most of the people I know that run LAN parties routinely contact the companies when they have one coming up. Often times, the companies will supply a few copies of a game or some hardware or other merchandise. I have two heat.net shirts from such parties. Hell, I was at one where they had Razor Boomslang mice provided (when they were new and cost like $100)

Whoever told you that is an idiot

Seriously. Think about it this way. Ever been to a public lab? A public high school? A library? They all have computers, all running copies of Windows. Is that a "public performance"? No. As long as you have one license for each computer, you're in the clear. Whoever told you that must have been thinking of movies or music...that's what the legal catch phrase "public showing" comes from. A lan party is no more a public performance than twenty people standing in the same room, listening to the same song on individual cd players with headphones.

Re:Whoever told you that is an idiot

Think about it this way. Ever been to a public lab? A public high school? A library? They all have computers, all running copies of Windows. Is that a "public performance"? No. As long as you have one license for each computer, you're in the clear.

Actually a LAN party could be viewed as a "public performance" because of the broad defination of a LAN party. Theres primarily two types. Theres the 'bring your own computer' system or the cybercafe style of 'walk in, pay and play' system. In a broad defination both are LAN parties, the thing is it only applies for the latter. For the former, yeah you'd need one license for each computer (to be on the safe side.)

It depends on how you view it. If you invited 20 friends over to your house to watch a DVD, yes that could be considered a "public showing". If you were some rich ass mofo and decided to buy 20 Alienware computer and run 20 copies of UT2k4, yes that could be considered to be a "public performance." (For both Alienware and Epic.)

As for running Windows on multiple computers at a place like a library or a school, thats not really a fair statement. Some schools and libraries recieve the equipment (and software) for free (at the very least, discounted) so I'm sure theres some kind of special license agreements for them.

Re:Whoever told you that is an idiot

nope, it doesn't. Some campus movie groups got nailed when they tried showing movies for free, but charged for the popcorn.
Even without the popcorn it's a violation. just read the FBI warning....

Re:Whoever told you that is an idiot

No, it couldn't. DVDs / VHSs are licensed for home performance. They sell you those things as an individual, for individual use. Therefore, it's not within your rights to turn around and use that license to show it to a hundred people. That's why there's a difference between public and private performance. Showing a movie to a large group of people is outside of the agreement under which you're allowed to watch the DVD. However, when you buy a computer game, the license explicitly allows you to install it on one computer and to play it online with other people. The point about the "public performance" law is not that you're doing something with other people, but that you're outside of the original parameters of your license to use the work. A LAN party is just a group of people using their individual licenses lawfully together. A public screening of a movie is outside of the permissable license on a DVD sold for private viewing. Your last two paragraphs are false and misleading. If I buy a laptop and sit on a park bench, using it, that would be a "public performance," according to you. There's absolutely no connection between this notion of "public performance" and computer software.

Commercial use or not?

I guess it all depends on the nature of your LAN party. Is it commercial orientated or just some 'geeks' getting together to play some games?

For example, the product license agreement for my PS2 game Gun Grave reads:

-snip-

You Shall Not:
Exploit this Program or its parts commercially, including, but not limited to use at a cybercafe, computer gaming centre or any other location-based site. Activision may offer a seperate Site License Agreement to permit you to make this Product available for commercial use

-snip-

I'm sure PC games have similair terms in the license agreements. It seems that as long as you are not commercially exploiting the games you should be in the clear. But as usual, IANAL.

It's best to contact the copyright holders....

On our campus, the student union showed screenings of various films.

They got fined for not obtaining public performance rights. article about fines [peak.sfu.ca]. It's best to be safe than sorry.

Along the same lines...

Can I read aloud in public? What if I just move my lips?

I've had to, but it's no big deal

When I was graduating from high school, we wanted to have a gaming party (There was a LAN party, but a lot of people brought in their consoles as well), and we were told to get permission from the copyright holders.

We contacted a bunch of companies of games we figured people would bring (I know we didn't get half of the developers that were actually present, but we seemed to have satisfied the school), and none of them gave any trouble. Most of them responded quite graciously, in fact.

Several companies sent us promotional posters/flyers and such, and asked if we'd display it at the party. One sent a gift certificate for Poppa John's Pizza. The coolest thing is that probably half of them even sent us disks with game demos or the partial releases they package with some video cards to raffle off and such.

Technically, you can have the LAN party without permission (I think, anyway - IANAL), but if the university says they want you to get permission, don't worry about it, and just get permission. I'd be very suprised if any company said no (and frankly, if they do, I wouldn't buy their games anymore), and you'll probably score at least a couple freebies if you word your letters well.

Keep things simple

For your lan party only use games from software companies with reasonable requirements.

Personally I don't think copyright law is such a great idea in the first place. And worse are _software_licenses_ (yes I am aware of the GPL).

Are there any limits on what you can put on a license? Or limits on the limits you can put on a customer/user so that s/he can _use_ the product s/he legally obtained/paid for (usage usually involves making copies of the software - coz it has to be copied somewhere - RAM etc)?

Maybe someone should come up with a software license that involves users being required to hop on one foot and while screaming "Foobarlicious".

Or a software license that involves users agreeing to ignore all (other?) software licenses in order to use the software legally.

the law says . . .

As with most legal topics there is an endless continuum of possibilities.

[no violation --- probably not --- maybe a violation --- probably --- definitely a violation]

If you change one fact in your scenario, that can change where you may fall. Little by little the edges of the categories gets pushed. Usually, plaintiffs try and make it as broad a reading as possible, while defendants try to narrow the interpretation. The 1976 Copyright Act is the best place to start in determining the extent of the question at hand.

> Section 106 - Exclusive rights in copyrighted works: states generally that ". . . the owner of a copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:"

> Section 106 (4) - in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audio visual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly"

> Section 100 - Definitions
To perform or display a work "publicly" means -

1. to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or
2. to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different.

The best thing to do is try and figure out how your particular set of facts will fall within this framework. If you are unsure, be safe and ask for permission.

University of Toledo

UT-BASH, the gaming society at the University of Toledo, although nemisis may be, has had some experience with this problem. Try contacting this guy: [e-mail]

Statute

The applicable law is 17 USC 106(4), which states "Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following (4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly."

The question really is whether your LAN party constitutes a public performance. Is it open to the public, can be public freely enter the area, etc? And keep in mind that the law specifically states certain categories, and whether a player playing UT2K3 or whatever will fall within one of the pre-determined categories. If it does not, then this statute does not apply to you at all.

Was this an educational experience?

Do you think this might have been as well thoguht out as to have been an attempt to make you learn the process? Or was it just BS? Either way the fact that most games let you use the same CD key for LAN parties indicates they have abdicated their copy right on a samll scale for marketing and market penetration. The old junkie way, give em a teast then charge!

Play the free UT 2004 Demo

Last weekend I invited five friends to my home for a LAN party.

Though we had other games, we spent a large amount of time playing the UT 2004 demo.

IMHO, it is a very good game. it is also free, and does not have any annoying copy protection to worry about.

I think that everyone there decided it was a good game and worth buying. Likewise, if you host many games of UT 2004 at your LAN, then Epic will probably thank you for all the converts you will create.

As it is freely downloadable and redistributable, you can reasonably claim you have permission to use it.

Just do it

I have held over 30 Lan parties and we never got permission. Most of the people that come anyways all have stolen copies and such which is why we could never do the events online. Just mention the word LAN Party in public and 3/4 of the people don't even know what you are talking about. My advise is to just make the college feel happy but if they don't request for permission then don't bother!

two options

As someone who not only graduated from BGSU but did so with a Master's thesis written about videogames, I can tell you that there have been lan parties on BGSU before, so this seems like a case of someone who is ignorant of what is going on. I see two solutions.

One is to go and try to talk some sence into them tell them that this is not a public showing, everyone coming will have bought their own copies of the game, everyone has paid for the games, and that the games are designed for this exact purpose. Which office did you talk to? I have reserved rooms at BGSU for various reasons several times for some odd purposes and never had them question me. I would suggest trying to talk to someone else.

Secondly, baffle them with bullshit. I know that nothing is going to happen, You know that nothing is going to happen. Print out the user agreements to like 10-20 different games and I would imagine that they would just stick it in a file somewhere without even reading it. As long as they have some official sounding paperwork then in most cases they would be happy, unless you run into some power happy person -- again I think the best route is to try to talk to someone else. Don't say, "Can I talk to soemone else" just go over there at various times untill that person is gone and pretend this is the first time you've been there.

Lan Parties...

I for one ran several lan parties before building my own game server for others to access remotely...As long as the game copies on the visiting systems are registered / legal and the host isn't charging a fee to participate there should be no problem. Public performance restrictions only apply when you charge fees for services without sending a cut to the manufacturer...that's my take at least.

depends on definition and also locale

I'm a music major and have studied copyright laws several times. Public performance is usually not applicable to a LAN party because, unless there are tournaments with prizes and tickets, nobody is "performing" for anyone else. the intellectual property of the companies, UT2003 for EA for example, is not being displayed to a group for profit or any other purpose. Each individual is using their purchased(supposedly) product for his/her own personal use and that is the extent of the use at most LAN parties. Also, depending on the room you are using, it may be sanctioned for public performance without attaining permission. Recital halls and auditoriums at colleges are such sanctioned areas where music and other arts can be performed without worry of infringement. Restaurants and coffee shops also work this way, anywhere there will be live music or copyrighted recorded music. They have to pay a yearly fee to be allowed to play cds and special radio stations and also have live performances in there venue. Imagine if a coffee shop had to attain the copyright permission for every piece of music that is ever heard in its space! There are laws to account for that and i think this might be applicable here. It seems to me that a LAN party would be definied as a live performance of a copyrighted work if it had to be classified as a public performance, and the hall/room you're trying to have the LAN party in could be covered for public performances and you won't have to worry. This is assuming though that videogames are under that clause for public performance spaces, which i admittedly am unsure of. Might give you enough bullshit to feed the people in charge though so they leave you alone, since we've all been to LAN parties and no copyright is not a factor at all.

movies not games.

I was quite confused as to why they needed this, and their only answer was that it would be considered a 'public showing of copyrighted work', and therefore I must secure permission.

That applies to movies, not pc games. Assuming you have enough liceneses for everyone or you have everyone bring their own, it doesn't matter that it's in a public area.

Thank You.

Thank you for all the responses! It confirmed some of the thoughts i had and help me set an idea of what needed to be done. More info on the orgnization and LAN party can be found here: http://personal.bgsu.edu/~randlem/xngc/ [bgsu.edu]

The 'Powers that be are wrong'.

I've read the Federal Copyright laws in great detail and the powers that be at your University are wrong. The Copyright laws were created in the late 70's and amended up to the middle to late 90's ('poorly scotch taped together' is a better term that amended). Most, if not all, of the text of the Copyright laws are aimed at scenarios in the 70's and not today.

The Copyright laws are aimed at anything BUT electronic games, skins, LAN parties and whatnot. This is one of these situations where LAN parties are not explicitly (or slightly for that matter) referred to. Any case brought up with the Federal Laws would be thrown out and laughed at.

As for the State Copyright Laws, that's another story as I'm not familiar with Ohio State Copyright Laws. I'd look them up if I were you. My Money sez that they're just as poorly written as the federal laws.

Unless the University can provide detailed explanations and referenced to the laws they are worried about (which they can't), I would say go ahead with your lan party.

Besides, why would a game manufacturer create LAN options for games if they were illegal?

Sounds like the University officials need to get with the times and catch a clue.

Dolemite
________________________

Public Display

As a law student who recently had copyright class, I think at least you have a decent shot at a fair use defense and its highly doubtful if you aren't commercial in nature, (ie: charging for the use of computers and licenses) that the companies would prosecute. If you want to be SUPER safe get the permissions. Think about the nature of the games, say Warcraft III, is by its nature amenable to use in Lan Party situations. Read the EULA for limitations, but would a company legitimately claim that the use of the "connect over lan" button they wrote really be a viable claim to a jury of a "public display?" So long as you aren't charging for the computers or to come in and watch and you all have licenses, then you should be just fine

Spin it!

Just spin it the other way. Tell them that by playing their games, you are promoting their product. In fact, they should be PAYING YOU for the effort. If they still make you go through all the legal effort...then fuck em. Play other games and make it publically known to all other players the hell those other game companies wanted to drag you through. Trust me, no company wants bad PR!