Esports is a booming business, and things like disputes over contracts and investments in teams means that the legal side of it is involved more and more. Take for example the disagreement between many CS:GO players and the PEA where there was a dispute due to ambiguity over whether teams in the PEA could play elsewhere. More and more often legal representation is needed to solve situations, and that's why the legal side of esports is getting more publicity.
World Esport Legal Services has recently been created by World Esport, an organisation set up to support the esports community, as announced on their blog, and with such a big legal practice being established for esports via the site, we decided to get in contact with co-founder and CEO of World Esport Alexandra "Maxima" Merz to ask a bit about the new branch, and what it hopes to achieve in the field of esports.
Gamereactor: Can you tell us a bit about World Esport Legal Services, for those who are unfamiliar?
AM: Absolutely! World Esport Legal Services (http://legal.worldesport.com/) is an additional service my Co-founder Marc 'Vazy' Berthold and myself have launched just recently. As founders of World Esport (www.worldesport.com), the dedicated professional social network for gaming & esports, we have been getting quite some inquiries on legal and practical matters in these industries.
We therefore thought that a consultancy, offering legal services to gamers & esport teams/organisations in an easy to understand manner, would help the esports community to deal with legal matters & issues in a more confident and solid way. At World Esport Legal Services, we decided to focus on legal areas crucial to the esport & gaming world: contracts, whether for players, teams or organisations, and also Intellectual Property.
GR: Why do you think it is important to have a legal practice dedicated solely to esports?
AM: With countries step-by-step recognising esport and gamers as a profession and athletes, the status of esports is evolving quickly. This quick evolution also brings along legal obstacles, which may be difficult to understand and handle for someone with a non-legal background or experience. As the majority of Gamers are quite young and still newly exposed to this industry, they need to be aware of their rights and options, especially before signing anything! A lot of powerful and different actors are entering the esport & gaming industries, but for no there is no clear legal framework or standardisation. That is why we believe it is important to help structure and build this framework!
Furthermore, it is also important to have a Legal Practice dedicated to this industry, as law firms outside of the esport & gaming industries lack the understanding / knowledge to deal with these specific cases.
GR: How does the experience in the world of esports help you guys do the best job possible?
AM: We combine our strength and passion - Vazy was a pro gamer for more than 10 years on CoD 4 and brings invaluable experience along. He came across various player agreements and situations during his professional career, which helps to advise our clients accordingly. With his knowledge and practical experience, combined with my academic and legal work experience, it makes it a lot simpler for us to put ourselves in the position of either the gamers, the teams or an esports organisation.
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GR: What kind of legal issues can esports teams face?
AM: That's a very good question! Firstly it depends on the level of the team: the more a team wants to become professional, the more issues they may face. With more expansion and growing fame, it is likely that issues may arise from player contracts, sponsorship contracts, licensing contracts, merchandising contracts, etc. These may become obstacles along the way of becoming a professional and stable esports team. Additionally, when teams want to become a brand with their team name and their logo, they may miss out on significant Intellectual Property rights, which can cause costly disputes in the future.
GR: What are your goals moving forward?
AM: We are currently working on expanding our client base and analysing what the esports community precisely needs legal consultancy in. Our goal is to stay affordable, approachable and definitely not be the mainstream law firm. After all, Vazy and myself are still the founders of World Esport and are actively involved in the Esport & Gaming industries. We therefore dedicate our time, energy and passion into framing these industries and helping gamers from all around.
GR: Are there particular challenges handling law in regards to esports as opposed to elsewhere?
AM: Esport is obviously a new field for many sectors, and also for the law. The law, for example, does not evolve or change for Property law the way it does for the law dealing with esport & gaming. It's not static and it has been moving into different directions. With more concepts combining gambling and esport, different aspects need to be considered and legally addressed. It also makes a difference where countries have already legalised esport and recognise gamers as athletes and a profession. As the trend continues, a lot more laws will be introduced by different countries, perhaps dealing with the legal challenges in their own way.
GR: Where do you see the field taking you guys in the next five years?
AM: Our goal as World Esport is to become a hub for the Esport & Gaming industry, with World Esport Legal Services being a significant part of this, and a larger actor in these industries. Our primary goal is therefore to grow worldesport.com and make it the place to be for every actor in esport and gaming in order to bring the required structure to these quickly growing industries!
Alexandra "Maxima" Merz is the co-founder and CEO of World Esport