A recent federal district court decision denied a motion to dismiss a complaint brought by Artifex Software Inc. (“Artifex”) for breach of contract and copyright infringement claims against Defendant Hancom, Inc. based on breach of an open source software license. The software, referred to as Ghostscript, was dual-licensed under the GPL license and a commercial license. According to the Plaintiff, those seeking to commercially distribute Ghostscript could obtain a commercial license to use, modify, copy, and/or distribute Ghostscript for a fee. Otherwise, the software was available without a fee under the GNU GPL, which required users to comply with certain open-source licensing requirements. The requirements included an obligation to “convey the machine-readable Corresponding Source under the terms of this License” of any covered code. In other words, under the open source license option, certain combinations of proprietary software with Ghostscript are governed by the terms of the GNU GPL.
Continue Reading Important Open Source Ruling Confirms Enforceability of Dual-Licensing and Breach of GPL for Failing to Distribute Source Code

The SEC shut down a “fantasy” stock picking game for allegedly violating securities laws. Forcerank LLC ran contests via mobile phone games where players paid a fee and predicted the order in which 10 securities would perform relative to each other. In each week-long game, players won points based on the accuracy of their prediction, and players with the most aggregate points received cash prizes at the end of the competition.
Continue Reading Fantasy Stock Picking Contest Deemed by SEC to be Illegal Security-based Swaps

Hugely successful games attract lawsuits. Pokémon Go has been hugely successful and, predictably, has attracted a lawsuit.

In a recently filed class action, a plaintiff has alleged that a number of the GPS coordinates that Defendants had designated as Pokéstops and Pokémon gyms were, in fact, on or directly adjacent to private property, and that Defendants had placed these Pokéstops and Pokémon gyms without the consent of the properties’ owners.Continue Reading Pokémon Go…es To Court!

As eSports continues its meteoric growth, its ecosystem continues to evolve. The new arena where the Sacramento Kings will play professional basketball when the 2016-17 season begins was designed to be “the most technologically advanced arena in the world, so it’s perfect for eSports,” said the teams co-owner Andy Miller.  The $507 million Golden 1 Center will have 1,000 Wi-Fi access points, 17,500 seats, and an 84-foot-long 4K video board. 
Continue Reading The New Face of eSports Venues?