Game designers are authors

... actually a self-evident statement. But unfortunately, this has been called into question time and again. Be it that courts insufficiently familiar with the matter equate game rules with instructions for use - be it that in 2012 it seemed questionable to the managing director of the Association of Game Publishers (then "Fachgruppe Spiel e.V.", since 2014 "Spielverlage e.V.") that game authors can be authors in the sense of the Copyright Act and then classified them as "suppliers" in ignorance of § 36 UrhG (German Law on Intellectual Property), because the SAZ had proposed a common 11-point list for minimum standards in license agreements.

On this subject, the SAZ has published a special public edition of its series of publications SAZ Points, in which two specialist lawyers take up all the arguments on the issue of intellectual property rights, deal with them in detail and take a clear position.

Download as PDF: SAZ Points No. 5 "Games and Copyright Protection".

The SAZ will continue to work on all levels for a clear and general recognition of game designers as authors and for their naming in all forms of publication, as well as expanding its function as a consistent representation of interests. In the meantime, it has been able to achieve some notable successes.

If you would like to take a look at the historical development of the naming of game authors and the famous "beer mat action" in the run-up to the founding of the SAZ, you can do so here.