“Free is an incredibly powerful marketing label, as we all know. Long before casual games came along, in fact long before the internet came along, marketers were using this word free and regulators were looking at how they did so”, stated Paul Gardner during his session at the Casual Connect Europe 2015.
Paul Gardner is a partner in the London Office of Osborne Clark, Europe’s leading law firm for the interactive entertainment industry. He specializes in commercial transactions and regulatory issues related to the cross-over of technology and entertainment. Much of his work involves the contractual and copyright issues related to content licensing and distribution through new media and platform applications, including digital distribution, streaming and web-based services.
Gardner also advises on the regulatory issues related to the creation and exploitation of digital entertainment products and services including age ratings, consumer protection, broadcast and telecom regulations, collecting society issues, data privacy, virtual currencies, e-commerce and betting and gaming regulations. He’s been involved in a number of projects regarding finance transactions in the computer games sector working with publishers, funders, and a completion bond company.
He asserts, “If you are going to be a lawyer, there can be no better industry with which to be involved than the games industry.” But he says to anyone interested in following the same career, “Ignore my advice and practice law in a different industry. I don’t want any more competition!”
Fighting for Truth and Justice at a Young Age
Gardner’s first job was delivering newspapers, but in only a week he was dismissed for incompetence. This was when he discovered he was much better with words than numbers. He became interested in a career as a lawyer when his desire to fight for truth and justice was stirred through seeing court room dramas on television and in movies.
At an early age Gardner became extremely interested in board games and hoped for a career designing them. He spent most of his free time creating a great variety of different games and admits, “The common feature of these games was the fiendish complexity of their rules, which I slowly realized meant their commercial appeal would be minimal.” That said, there was a surprising benefit. “The many years spent creating uncommercial board games with intricate rules that seek to address every possible eventuality and that numb the mind of even the most enthusiastic, experienced and loyal game player with abject boredom was an ideal foundation on which to build a career as a commercial solicitor.”
His interest in video games began as a child when he was given an Atari 2600, however, his professional interest began when he became involved with a dispute relating to Tetris that ultimately led to litigation in UK, Russia and California. After his experience with Tetris, he decided to move to Osborne Clark in 1998 so he could focus on interactive media.
The Legal Side
Paul finds many things about the game industry interesting, ranging from game design, business models and some very challenging legal issues. Additionally, the industry is full of fascinating and likable people.
One of the challenges lawyers face in the industry is that they often become involved in a project rather late in the process. This reduces the value they might have been able to bring, so Gardner tries to address this challenge by spending free time with clients and potential clients on an individual basis. He does this through talks and writing to highlight any issues that they should consider.
Patenting is an issue of particular concern in the games industry. Gardner points out that, from this perspective, the patent system has been badly abused, largely in the US. Unfortunately, this has meant that it has sometimes been neglected by games companies in Europe.
Passions and Past Times
Naturally, Gardner’s priority outside work is his family. He is married with three children - ages 14, 17 and 19. He says, “Unfortunately, none show any interest in the law. More worryingly, only one shows any interest in computer games.” Gardner is also actively involved with a church in central London and spends the remaining time reading, dabbling with creative writing, and watching films. He enjoys playing games, although his gaming is limited by time constraints, and he has a dreadful record in completing games. Nevertheless, he continues to be a big fan of Nintendo games and Super Mario 64 remains one of his all-time favorites. That said, he still has a soft spot for Tetris.
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