Hiring a lawyer to do legal work for releasing a game?

Hi there. I’ve been working on a game and am close to wanting to put it into beta then release it for revenue. This is my first game so I have no idea how to go about the legal process other than I need to incorporate since I’m in the U.S. and that I should also get a copyright so no one can steal my game. Since I’m very ignorant to the legal side of releasing a game I was wondering if there is a specific type of lawyer I could hire to help me get through it. Since I’m a one man team it seems daunting to do all of it myself and would really like some help. Any info regarding this would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Under US law, copyrights exist at the moment of creation, although there are some litigation benefits of filing an application for registration within the first 3 months of publication. I can’t give you legal advice, but certainly a very important thing for a new game project is seeking advice from trademark counsel on the name of the game. It would definitely suck to have a game out there for a few months, find success, and then have to change the name!

Thanks you for the advice :slight_smile:

The type of lawyer you need is an entertainment lawyer. Also with regards to your game, you have to make sure any assets (meshes, textures, sound bits, etc) you have, you have the rights to use for the intended purpose. If you created everything in the game you don’t got any worries.

Trademarks are a recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others,[2][3] although trademarks used to identify services are usually called service marks.[4][5] The trademark owner can be an individual, business organization, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, a voucher, or on the product itself. For the sake of corporate identity, trademarks are often displayed on company buildings. (from wiki)

Copyrights are ownership of an intellectual property and this is more important than a trademark. Copyrights can and will be your only legal stance in ownership. Best to have it documented. Simply put make a good game design document for your game and include in as much detail about your game as possible. Get that copyrighted. As far as ownership of the copyright goes whether you personally or the corporation is a matter of doing your due diligence in decided which way to go with that. Anything in the legalities department consult with a lawyer.