Every couple of years from the 1990s to today, the debate on the link between video game violence and real world violence makes headlines when a violent act occurs allegedly as a result of the perpetrator’s play of a particular video game. The accusations are similar, though the games being blamed have changed over the years – Mortal Kombat, Doom, Final Fantasy VIII, EverQuest and the Grand Theft Auto series are a handful of the video games blamed for an act of violence.
Lawsuits involving these games have ended up with the same result – dismissal – as courts have not been willing to overlook the strong protections offered by the First Amendment of our country’s constitution. We often think of the right to say what we want when the First Amendment comes up, and this protection also extends to creative works, a group that includes video games and other artistic endeavors that receive copyright protection.
Californians have been a part of this debate. In 2005, California passed a law banning the sale of violent video games to anyone under the age of 18. A group of video game and entertainment companies sued Governor Schwarzenegger to stop the law, and the case ended up making its way all the way to the Supreme Court, which delivered its ruling last summer 2011. California’s law, the Supreme Court ruled, was unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment.
The Entertainment Software Association calculated that taxpayers have now shelled out $2,158,916 towards repaying the video game industry for having to fight laws that end up being held unconstitutional. Has your company been involved in any of the First Amendment battles over laws you believe are unconstitutional?
Klein Trial Lawyers – Los Angeles business litigation attorneys