Interdisciplinary Center for Law & UCT (ICRI) KU Leuven Prof. P. Valcke, Dr. E. Kindt N. Bertels, J. Ausloos en B. Coene

1. Legal framework
for
Games @ School
Interdisciplinary Centre for Law & ICT (ICRI)
KU Leuven
Prof. P. Valcke, Dr. E. Kindt
N. Bertels, J. Ausloos en B. Coene

2. Publisher A ‘s Publisher B ‘s
Educational Educational
exercises
exercises
Developer
Y’s
Gaming
elements
G@S Online Platform
Exchange
website
Educational Game (A + Y )
User Profile q
Pupil q
+ parent
User Profile r
Pupil q
+ parent
Developer Z’s
Gaming
elements
Database
Educational exercices
& Gaming elements
Teachers

3. Publisher A ‘s Publisher B ‘s
Educational Educational
exercises
exercises
Inputs
Developer
Y’s
Gaming
elements
G@S Online Platform
Educational Game (A + Y )
User Profile q
Pupil q
+ parent
User Profile r
Pupil q
+ parent
Developer Z’s
Gaming
elements
Inputs
Exchange
website
Database
Educational exercices
& Gaming elements
Teachers Inputs

4. Publisher A ‘s Publisher B ‘s
Educational Educational
exercises
exercises
Developer
Y’s
Gaming
Process data elements
G@S Online Platform
Educational Game (A + Y )
User Profile q
User Profile r
Developer Z’s
Gaming
elements
Exchange
website
Database
Data on
Adapt Process data Educational exercices
& Gaming elements
performance
Pupil q
Pupil q
Teachers
+ parent
+ parent

5. Legal Issues
 Privacy
 Intellectual property
 Liability for unlawful inputs

6. Privacy
Monitoring performance of pupils to
ensure adaptivity of educational games
involves processing personal data
‘Personal data’= any information
relating to an identified or identifiable
natural person
Processing personal data is only legal
under certain conditions

7. Publisher A ‘s Publisher B ‘s
Educational Educational
exercises
exercises
Developer
Y’s
Gaming
Process data elements
G@S Online Platform
Educational Game (A + Y )
User Profile q
User Profile r
Developer Z’s
Gaming
elements
Exchange
website
Database
Data on
Adapt Process data Educational exercices
& Gaming elements
performance
Pupil q
Pupil q
Teachers
+ parent
+ parent

8. Privacy
Legal requirements to process personal
data:
A legitimate ground to do so (e.g. person’s consent)
Inform persons before collecting their personal data
Limit processing personal data to what is required for
legitimate purpose
Ensure confidentiality and security of personal
data collected
Notify the Commission for the Protection of Privacy
Give person access to his personal data collected
and a right to object & have it corrected/erased

9. Intellectual property
Inputs gathered by the platform
are likely to enjoy intellectual
property protection
e.g.: educational exercises,
computer gaming elements,
database and
resulting educational games

10. Publisher A ‘s Publisher B ‘s
Educational Educational
exercises
exercises
Inputs
Developer
Y’s
Gaming
elements
G@S Online Platform
Educational Game (A + Y )
User Profile q
Pupil q
+ parent
User Profile r
Pupil q
+ parent
Developer Z’s
Gaming
elements
Inputs
Exchange
website
Database
Educational exercices
& Gaming elements
Teachers Inputs

11. Intellectual property
Database
Exercises
Computer gaming
elements & games
Possibly protected under:
Database
sui generis
right
Database
copyright
Ordinary
copyright
Computer Patent
program
law
copyright
Unfair competition law’s
protection against parasitic competition

12. Intellectual property
 Be aware of the scope of
protection offered by the relevant
intellectual property regimes
 If necessary conclude valid legal
agreement with relevant right
holder on the use of intellectual
property protected inputs

13. Liability for unlawful inputs
If a participant provides an unlawful
input to the platform
this can entail the criminal or civil
liability:
Not only of the participant providing
this input
But also of other participants making
further use of this input

14. Publisher A ‘s Publisher B ‘s
Educational Educational
exercises
exercises
Liability
Developer Developer Z’s
Y’s
Gaming
Gaming
elements
Liability
elements
G@S Online Platform
Educational Game (A + Y )
Liability
User Profile q
Pupil q
+ parent
User Profile r
Pupil q
+ parent
Exchange
Liability website
Database
Educational exercices
& Gaming elements
Teachers Unlawful Input

15. Managing the liability risk
connected to unlawful inputs
In the phase of gathering inputs:
 Organize exchange website in way that liability
exemption for hosting services applies
Non-profit organization, ministry of education as
a neutral host?
In the phase of further use of inputs:
 Content checks to trace unlawful inputs
 Contractual mechanisms (e.g.: terms of use
telling users not to provide unlawful inputs)

16. Conclusion
To avoid the platform being
hampered by legal claims
it is necessary to have due
consideration for:
 Privacy
 Intellectual property
 Liability for unlawful inputs