The Wildly Popular Video Game ‘Call of Duty’ Is Now Officially a Work of Art, According to New Court Ruling

Are video games works of art? They are indeed, at least
according to one recent legal decision.

Last month, a New York judge ruled in favor of the video-game
developer Activision Blizzard in a lawsuit brought by the
carmaker AM General alleging that the appearance of Humvees
in the popular modern warfare video game Call of
Duty misled consumers into thinking that “AM General
licenses the games.”

The court found that any confusion was minimal because the two
companies’ primary markets and products are so different from one
another.

In his ruling, District Judge George B. Daniels also wrote
that the game’s inclusion of Humvees, which have been used by
the US Department of Defense since 1983 and are a universally
recognized symbol of the American military, enhances the realism of
the game.

“If realism is an artistic goal, then the presence in modern
warfare games of vehicles employed by actual militaries undoubtedly
furthers that goal,” he wrote, granting Activision’s request
for summary judgement.

The presence of the vehicles in the game is protected as an
“‘integral element’ of artistic expression rather than a willful
attempt to garnish the trademark owner’s goodwill for profit,” he
ruled, quoting an earlier ruling protecting the use of
trademarks in works of art.

For gamers who have long argued in favor of video games as an
art form, the decision is a landmark one.

“When a ruling is handed down it becomes precedent,”
intellectual property lawyer Leila Amineddoleh told the Art Newspaper.
“This may encourage other video game creators and artists to more
aggressively protect their rights because it shows a willingness by
the court to recognize this medium as art.”

There are already other precedents for deeming video games works
of art. The Museum of Modern Art began acquiring classic arcade
games, such as Pacman, and other titles,
including Myst
and SimCity2000, for its collection in 2012. And
the National Endowment for the Arts has offered grants for video
game creators since 2011, when it expanded its “Arts on
Television and Radio” program, renaming it “Arts in Media.”

That same year, video games were granted First Amendment
protections in a Supreme Court ruling striking down a California
law preventing the sale of violent video games to children.

By acknowledging the artistic merit of Call of
Duty, Daniels has made another important legal ruling by
defending the idea that video games are artworks.

“This appears to be the first lawsuit where that artistic
protection has been tested for a specific game and licensing
dispute, rather than a designation broadly applied to games as a
whole,” according to CCN.

The post The Wildly Popular Video Game ‘Call of Duty’ Is Now
Officially a Work of Art, According to New Court Ruling
appeared first on artnet News.