Abstract
How is a video game legally protected? In Spain there is no specific
regulation that shields the creation of a video game. This absence
implies that we have to conceive a video game as a mosaic of separate
pieces and treat them as different works, in order to grant it
comprehensive protection. Thus, on the one hand, it is necessary to
process and register the computer program (software) that supports the
video game. On the other, the same must be done with the visual part
(audiovisual work). This Article deals with the protection of the
software and the graphic part, as well as the catalog of rights inherent
to both. There are many “gray areas” presented by the abundant
casuistry, which is a challenge from the legal point of view. Due to the
above, given that the legislation on the subject is insufficient to
answer all the questions, it is necessary to resort to the jurisprudence
of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in order to
clarify and delimit the scope of the different ways of protecting a
video game, since, according to what has been pointed out, there is no
glimpse of a proposal to standardize this matter on the near horizon.