We held our ‘Legal 101 for Video Games’ symposium on November 6 in the Hangar at the Centre for Digital Media. This was an exclusive event we offered to our members and it gave them the opportunity to learn from leading lawyers and advisors practicing in the Vancouver video game industry. The panel featured Karam Bayrakal (Fasken), Ryan Black (McMillan) and a number of their colleagues who presented a half-day interactive session that explored the risks and opportunities created by the rapid legal changes in games. It also covered an assortment of essential topics such as employment and game regulation, immigration, tie ups, cybersecurity, data protection and privacy, investments, and patents. The panel ended with a keynote from Dr Tyler Black MD, who gave an interesting presentation on video game violence, the questionable construct of "addiction", the science of "loot boxes" and "problem gaming", and the impending regulatory effect of WHO gaming addiction classifications. We then capped off the day with an informal ‘beer & bevvies’ reception for the attendees and speakers. Huge thanks to Fasken and McMillan for hosting and sponsoring the event!
