Video Game PS - First Blood Part 2
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 8:20 pm
Back again. Still having a bit of issue with the conclusion because I have a burning desire to be poetic, but aside that I think it's been cleaned up nicely thus far.
The lights slowly dim around me, the ambient noise fades as my headset is adjusted, and my sole focus is on the 23-inch plastic and crystal display in front of me. Center stage yet again. My hands begin to drift across a mechanical keyboard with the dexterity of a pianist and the precision of a surgeon, and the sound of the switches firing is all that resonates from the periphery. Now is all that matters, and with that thought, the gates open to Summoner's Rift – the customary battleground for League of Legends. Every keystroke, every ability, the commands, the tactical maneuvers – they all erupt into a crescendo, and in a fleeting moment, the blue crystals float to the forefront of my screen. “Victory!”
Video games have always been an integral part of my life; they served both as the crux for bonding with family and friends and as the medium for seeking out communities and meeting new people. They were the canvas for my self-expression, on which I could showcase my individuality, my creativity and analysis, my leadership, and my strategy. Games serve as tools that connect people and ideas. They build communities and inspire creativity – and they showed me how to combine an unlikely set of passions into a potential future.
My senior year of college consisted of an internship at [name of firm], one of the largest law firms in Pennsylvania; managing the finances of three different on-campus organizations; heading the upperclassman apartment complex with over 150 students; competing in varsity athletics; taking classes; and writing a senior thesis. In the culmination of four years in the honors program, the capstone, my 15 minutes of fame came during an honors week presentation in front of my colleagues, professors and other esteemed guests. My name was called and I took the stage, proudly announcing the title of my work: “Copyright in the Digital Age: The Importance of Transformative Use in Video Game Streaming.” The purpose of my thesis was to examine how copyright laws affected players and streaming services when the traditionally accepted precedent of fair use did not afford enough protections from potentially vexatious litigation. In a field of honors students who wrote on all topics (including aluminum conversions, gene sequences, the importance of limited power for the executive branch, and even increasing funding to libraries to spur community growth), I was talking about the future of video games on equal ground.
At the conclusion of my presentation, I had already anticipated the first question: “Why?” More specifically, “Why is this important to the average person?” As if on cue, I picked a hand from the audience and smiled as the question arose. Although my thesis addressed the issue of importance in the context of the industry I evaluated, the question stems from a certain lack of understanding about video game culture in society. With the rise of technology at an exponential pace, the issues surrounding newer forms of entertainment often conflict with decades old intellectual property laws or ambitious, but overreaching and vague legislation. It would seem as if every generation begets its own Betamax case.
For me, simply playing the game would no longer suffice; my focus grew beyond that. It became about the players, personalities, and communities; how ineffective current intellectual property laws are, and the dangers they pose to innovation and creative expression. As a future attorney, I want to be on the teams that pioneer greater analysis of intellectual property laws and their repercussions. I want to assist clients in protecting their intellectual property, their ideas, and be the reason they can see those victorious blue crystals.
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