Virtual reality, virtual laws

Next generation virtual reality is backed by billions of dollars from Facebook, among others, but the IPR situation is less than clear

Don Kelly, Evans & Dixon

Virtual reality in its computer-generated form is relatively young – only 20 to 30 years old by most accounts. To understand how virtual reality games generate legal concerns, one needs to understand exactly what virtual reality is. ‘Virtual reality’ is the term people use to refer to computer generated dynamic scenery in which the actions of certain scene images (usually in the form of humans or animals) are controllable by a computer user. Both the scenery and the images are created by computers executing lines of computer code. Virtual reality gaming is a catch-all term used to describe computer-generated imagery that contains visual elements originating from both the system creator and those persons allowed by the system creator to use the system. Experience has shown that potential legal pitfalls await the creators of these systems. These pitfalls may occur in two ways: a) failing to protect intellectual property rights; and b) infringing the rights of others. Having a basic understanding of a few relevant intellectual property concepts will enable creators to anticipate, spot and avoid those pitfalls.