View Specification DocumentGames and the Law LAW5242
- Academic Session: 2026-27
- School: School of Law
- Credits: 20
- Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
- Typically Offered: Semester 2
- Available to Visiting Students: No
- Collaborative Online International Learning: No
- Curriculum For Life: No
Short Description
This course considers the relationship between interactive games and law, broadly conceived. The course offers both a specialist, applied account of law for students interested in working with interactive games (either in the games industry, or with other relevant stakeholders), and critical reflections of the law's suitability and sustainability for regulation. While the course primarily considers intellectual property and technology law, it also includes competition, consumer protection, privacy, and labour law, as areas relevant for the regulation of games.
Indicative course topics include but are not limited to: legal history and development of games; game preservation, technological protection measures; XR/VR/Metaverse regulation; regulation of user-generated content; eSports and competitive gaming; games industry labour dynamics; game platform content moderation; and dark patterns in games. In this sense, the course takes a holistic view of the multiple regulatory dynamics impacting interactive games as a creative industry.
Timetable
10 x 2 hour seminars
Requirements of Entry
The course is open to all LLM students subject to the requirements of the LLM programme on which the student is enrolled.
Excluded Courses
None
Co-requisites
None
Assessment
The course is assessed by a capstone project (75%) of (3,500) words or equivalent in the form of a multimedia report (consisting of text and image/audio/video) on a topic of relevance to the regulation of games. The course includes a set exercise (25%) which will be evaluated through a set exercise of an individual blog post on an emerging topic of regulation discussed in class.
Course Aims
The principal aim of the course is to provide students with an understanding of the role and significance of law and how it applies to games.
Further aims are to:
■ Develop the analytical and critical skills of students;
■ Develop the communication skills of students through in class discussion, debate, and online activities;
■ Instil in students an ability to constructively evaluate the positions taken in current debates, to suggest and consider possible reforms;
■ Foster critical understanding and evaluation of areas of controversy in the law, and;
■ Encourage independent learning.
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
By the end of this course students will be able to:
■ Identify relevant areas of law and understand how they apply to games.
■ Construct a coherent argument in discussion of topics arising from the application of law to games.
■ Propose reforms to areas of law which may address game stakeholder concerns, as well as related policy and societal issues.