News and developments
LEGAL CHALLENGES FACED BY E-SPORTS
In addition to this, the Asian Games of 2018 witnessed the uprise of eSports where India’s Tirth Mehta won a bronze medal in the eSports game ‘Hearthstone’, thereby celebrating the initiation of India’s medal count in eSports. The International Olympic Committee (“IOC”) has taken aback the worldwide audience by heralding their intention to initiate the ‘Olympic Virtual Series’ which would consist of multiple eSports events in the Olympics.
The term ‘eSports’ as defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary means “the act of playing games digitally against other people often for commercial gains through virtual viewership[1]”.
Internet connectivity has reached worldwide to almost all households and therefore, eSports have a huge influence on the young population at large. Moreover, such streaming cannot be restricted to the domestic boundaries of a nation given the free access to the internet thus presenting a legal challenge of governing it globally. The uprise in viewership of eSports and the facilitation of multiple platforms to the game streamer, influencing the mass, calls for an urgent need for a legal framework governing the eSports industry.
[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/e-sports [2] https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/betting [3] (2016) 8 SCC 535 Contributed by: Ms. Disha Toshniwal (Sr. Associate, Ahlawat & Associates) Mr. Sarthak Chawla (Associate, Ahlawat & Associates)
LEGAL CHALLENGES
- Inclusion of eSport under Sports
- Dearth of legislations regulating betting, match-fixing etc.
- Absence of statutory governing body
- Global streaming of virtual sports
- No standard guidelines for broadcasting
- Contractual Governance
- M&A and Esports
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- Is there any organisation for eSports in India?
- Are there any organisations governing eSports globally?
- Has any country recognised Esports formally?
- Are there any actions undertaken by the Indian government to regulate Esports?
- What are the potential expectations from eSports?
CONCLUSION
The impact of covid-19 has increased in the uprising interest of people towards eSports and also in the increase of transactions pertaining to mergers and acquisitions in the eSports sector. In the event of any transaction in eSports, the parties are required to conduct due diligence to identify the underlying issues with the licenses and other related matters. eSports is a recent craze and regulating the sector completely could be challenging and inadequate knowledge sector at the moment the way forward might be to acknowledge eSports as a sport and establish a broad regulatory framework to govern the same as remarked by Lokesh Suji, Director ESFI.[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/e-sports [2] https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/betting [3] (2016) 8 SCC 535 Contributed by: Ms. Disha Toshniwal (Sr. Associate, Ahlawat & Associates) Mr. Sarthak Chawla (Associate, Ahlawat & Associates)