Editing Video game (section)

===Intellectual property for video games===
{{Main|Intellectual property protection of video games|Video game clone}}
Most commonly, video games are protected by [[copyright]], though both [[patent]]s and [[trademark]]s have been used as well.

Though local copyright regulations vary to the degree of protection, video games qualify as copyrighted visual-audio works, and enjoy cross-country protection under the [[Berne Convention]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/|title=Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works|website=www.wipo.int|language=en|access-date=2017-05-04|archive-date=1 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101035910/https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/|url-status=live}}</ref> This typically only applies to the underlying code, as well as to the artistic aspects of the game such as its writing, art assets, and music. Gameplay itself is generally not considered copyrightable; in the United States among other countries, video games are considered to fall into the [[idea–expression distinction]] in that it is how the game is presented and expressed to the player that can be copyrighted, but not the underlying principles of the game.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Leveling Pains: Clone Gaming and the Changing Dynamics of an Industry | first = Nicholas M. | last = Lampros | journal = [[Berkeley Technology Law Journal]] | volume = 28 | date =2013 | page = 743 }}</ref>

Because gameplay is normally ineligible for copyright, gameplay ideas in popular games are often replicated and built upon in other games. At times, this repurposing of gameplay can be seen as beneficial and a fundamental part of how the industry has grown by building on the ideas of others.<ref name="nytimes clone"/><ref name="ars clone"/> For example ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' (1993) and ''[[Grand Theft Auto III]]'' (2001) introduced gameplay that created popular new game genres, the [[first-person shooter]] and the [[Grand Theft Auto clone|''Grand Theft Auto'' clone]], respectively, in the few years after their release.<ref name="clones">Turner, Benjamin & Bowen, Kevin, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120712042757/http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/december03/doom/clones/index.shtml Bringin' in the DOOM Clones], ''GameSpy,'' 11 December 2003, Accessed 19 February 2009</ref><ref name="bbc gta clone">{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3762350.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |title=Hunt for Grand Theft Auto pirates |date=2004-10-21 |access-date=2008-08-26 |archive-date=29 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429070441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3762350.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> However, at times and more frequently at the onset of the industry, developers would intentionally create video game clones of successful games and game hardware with few changes, which led to the flooded arcade and dedicated home console market around 1978.<ref name="nytimes clone">{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/technology/for-creators-of-video-games-a-faint-line-on-cloning.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all | title = For Creators of Games, a Faint Line on Cloning | first = Brian X. | last = Chen | date = 11 March 2012 | access-date = 6 September 2019 | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | archive-date = 1 November 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211101063430/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/technology/for-creators-of-video-games-a-faint-line-on-cloning.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url = https://techcrunch.com/2014/01/05/why-all-the-clones/ | title = Why all the Clones | publisher = [[TechCrunch]] | first = Tadhg | last = Kelly | date = 2014-01-05 | access-date = 2015-10-20 | archive-date = 5 March 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210305174532/https://techcrunch.com/2014/01/05/why-all-the-clones/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="ars clone">{{Cite web | url = https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2009/12/cloning-or-theft-ars-explores-game-design-with-jenova-chen/ | title = Cloning or theft? Ars explores game design with Jenova Chen | first = Andrew | last = Webster | date = 2009-12-06 | access-date = 2015-10-20 | publisher = [[Ars Technica]] | archive-date = 7 May 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210507202648/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2009/12/cloning-or-theft-ars-explores-game-design-with-jenova-chen/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Cloning is also a major issue with countries that do not have strong intellectual property protection laws, such as [[Intellectual property in China|within China]]. The lax oversight by China's government and the difficulty for foreign companies to take Chinese entities to court had enabled China to support a large [[grey market]] of cloned hardware and software systems.<ref>{{cite report | url = https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/China%27s%20Digital%20Game%20Sector.pdf | title = China's Digital Game Sector | first1 = Matt | last1 = Snyder | date = 17 May 2018 | access-date = 25 September 2019 | publisher = [[United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission]] | archive-date = 21 March 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210321230756/https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/China%27s%20Digital%20Game%20Sector.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> The industry remains challenged to distinguish between creating new games based on refinements of past successful games to create a new type of gameplay, and intentionally creating a clone of a game that may simply swap out art assets.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2011/dec/21/clone-wars-games-industry-plagiarism | title = Clone Wars: is plagiarism killing creativity in the games industry? | work = [[The Guardian]] | date = 2011-12-23 | access-date = 2012-08-07 | first = Simon | last = Parkin | archive-date = 1 November 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211101224913/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2011/dec/21/clone-wars-games-industry-plagiarism | url-status = live }}</ref>