Christophe Roquilly

Control over virtual worlds by game companies: issues and recommendations

Game companies use five components--four core components and one complementary one--in a 5Cs model to ensure the control and development of virtual worlds. A multidisciplinary review of the literature reveals that game companies make use of copyright, codes, creativity, and community to do this. They use the contract as a complementary component to reinforce their control over the four basic components and to compensate for the lacunae they present. In order to examine the extent to which game companies use the contract in this way, an analysis is performed of all contractual documents from a sample of 20 virtual worlds, providing evidence of general trends and emphasizing any differences between the virtual worlds in terms of the business and gaming models sought by each game company. An explanation is provided of why these contracts do not constitute a sustainable model for the game companies, given the high level of legal insecurity they present. Some basic recommendations can be made in order to improve the sustainability of the 5Cs model by modifying these contracts in such a way that they are enforceable and by matching their content with appropriate business and gaming models. This could lead to further studies aimed at providing answers to some of the intriguing issues affecting scholars and practitioners.

From Legal Monitoring to Legal Core Competency: How to Integrate the Legal Dimension into Strategic Management

Strategic Management does not ignore legal reality but the impact of legal parameters on strategy of the firm is not sufficiently formalised. In this paper, the author proposes to formalise the way in which a firm’s recourse to the law can maintain or generate a sustainable competitive advantage. The development of a core legal competency requires the recognition of a legal capability within the firm. This capability can be defined as the firm’s ability to create legal resources which includes taking into account legal elements from the external environment so as to secure and increase the value of other resources. Legal mechanisms as key factors in a firm’s environment are first highlighted. These mechanisms must be associated with or connected to the company’s resources. The role of internal legal resources is then examined along with the need to recognise legal capability. The author concludes with an examination of how legal resources and legal capability can be a source of sustainable competitive advantage.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Run Legal with Business Metrics: Will the Legal of the Future Measure Everything It Does?

Gone are the days when company lawyers were isolated in their ivory tower. In our fast-paced competitive environment, the aspiration of in-house counsels is to go beyond their specialist role and become relevant business advisors aligned with the company strategy and committed in bringing value to the business. Today, the concept of “legal performance” has become part of both the vocabulary and the practice of many general counsels. But how many of them have engaged in legal performance measurement through figures and metrics?

The Risk of Brand Equity Erosion in the Social Media: The Efficacy and Limitations of Legal Instruments

The growth of the social media offers companies new ways of understanding better how brand equity is created and of contributing to its development. But the social media may also lead to the erosion of brand equity if they convey negative opinions and comments on the part of consumers. The law provides a number of instruments - variously legislative (or regulatory), judicial and contractual - that can protect brand equity. However, although these instruments have been clearly identified by the academic literature and legal practitioners, their real effectiveness for preserving brand equity in the social media has yet to be observed and measured. On the basis of three empirical studies, namely analysis of contractual clauses (in this case pertaining to the Terms of Use of a sample of ten social media) and of paralegal and legal actions taken by companies owning trademarks, we show that recourse to these legal instruments must be undertaken with the greatest discernment so as to avoid the possible intensification of negative word-of-mouth regarding the brand and consequently further erosion of its brand equity. Our findings provide initial empirical evidence as to the limited effectiveness of legal methods for avoiding damage to brand equity in the social media, and suggest that criteria need to be established for determining how to choose between legal instruments and marketing instruments. We also argue that the use of these two kinds of instrument should be conceived within a logic of complementarity.

Competitive Cross-Couponing: A Comparison of French and U.S. Perspectives

Coca-Colas practice of cross-couponing violated French competition law. The authors provide a review of U.S. and French competition laws and then compare price discrimination with product-switching explanations for Coca-Colas cross-couponing practice. The authors argue that cross-couponing is used to entice customers of rival brands to sample the firms product and is economically efficient.