The video game industry exceeds the giants of the film and music industries in size. The development process of each game involves many creators at different stages, whose work also varies significantly. Video games themselves also differ in terms of type. Nevertheless, no uniform approach to the legal classification of video games has yet been established at the international level. Over the past few decades, the social significance of video games, the size of the industry, and thus the understanding of its legal nature have changed. The position of individual elements and their importance for the functioning and existence of the game has changed rapidly due to technological developments and the development of different genres.
Although still in its infancy, this industry is also developing in Slovenia. Similar to other EU countries, we do not have a uniform legal classification of video games that would lead to greater predictability for all participants. In Slovenia, there are primarily three possible forms of legal classification for video games. The first is video games as copyrighted works – computer program. This approach captures the essential interactive nature of video games, but the provisions for such protection are stricter due to the nature of computer programs. The qualification of a video game as an audiovisual work provides legal protection to games that are based predominantly on such elements, while the elements of the computer program are not protected with the copyrighted work as such. It is also possible to classify video games as joint works, but this is not suitable for the standard form of the development process due to the requirement for separate development of individual elements. Therefore, the decision-maker will play a key role in identifying the disputed or predominant elements on the basis of which appropriate legal protection can be ensured.
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