Intellectual Property: Sony’s video game licensing agreements cleared
The Commission has now cleared Sony’s video games developer and publisher licensing agreements, after the company removed any possible infringements of competition law. The Commission had previously objected to the agreements on the basis of a report by the UK Monopolies and Mergers Commission which had deemed them anti-competitive.
Under Sony’s original agreements licensed developers and publishers were not allowed to have their games developed or published by a company not authorised by Sony. Further, licensees were obliged to have their games manufactured by Sony. In short without Sony’s approval few game projects could get off the ground.
The new licensing and development policy is non-restrictive, and game software will be tested only for conformity with clear criteria and non-objectionable specifications. The other stipulations that the Commission had previously challenged have now been deleted or amended to remove all competition issues. These measures are similar to those previously taken by Sony’s competitors, Sega and Nintendo.
