Michał Pękała

Partner

Advocate with more than 8 years of experience in advising video game sector entities, developers, publishers, freelancers, youtubers and influencers, as well as e-sports teams and industry investors.

 

He specializes in providing comprehensive full-cycle legal advice for the development and commercialization of video games. This includes in particular negotiating publishing and licensing agreements, acquiring IPRs for video games, creating film and literary adaptations based on video games, protecting video game trademarks and branding, as well as creating an overall legal strategy for video game companies.

Experience

He works closely with the Indie Games Poland Foundation, providing advice on the legal aspects of the video game market, as well as free legal advice to budding independent developers. For many years he advised the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage on the legal aspects of the video game market. He regularly gives speeches and participates in Poland’s largest gaming conferences, i.e. Digital Dragons, Games Industry Conference, Mastering the Game, Pixel Connect. He regularly comments on current legal events concerning the video game market in Polish GameDev, CD Action, among others.

He has advised on projects involving
  • creating a film adaptation of a video game of a Polish developer by a Hollywood studio;
  • preparing a legal strategy for expanding the Polish developer’s operations outside Poland;
  • acquiring “big IP” to develop a video game based on a reputable video game brand (franchise);
  • preparing draft publishing agreements for a leading Polish publisher of Premium Indie games;
  • creating a video game based on an adaptation of a novel by a renowned author of fantasy novels;
  • negotiating numerous publishing agreements for Polish developers with international publishers;
  • protecting the brand and trademarks of Polish developers and publishers;
  • using national designations in the organization of e-sports events;
  • adapting GDPR regulations at the stage of video game development (privacy by design);
  • advising on investment projects at the stage of attracting the first investor and subsequent investment rounds;
  • amicable resolution of a dispute over the rights to a video game engine;
  • preparing a strategy to counter claims of copyright infringement and unfair competition for a video game by a Polish developer.

He has advised such entities as: Ten Square Games, SUPERHOT, Epic Games, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Warner Bros, Techland, Huuuge Games, Crunching Koalas, Walkabout Games, PolyAmorous, Vavel Games Studio, Acid Wizard Studio, Dreamstorm Studio, Cave Games, No Gravity Games, Black Sail Games, Shadow Masters OU, The Dust, Yaza Games, DAPPS, Reikon Games, Tactical Dogs, SNEG Ltd.

Education

  • Law, UMCS (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University).
  • School of American Law, Catholic University of Lublin.
  • International Intellectual Property Law, Chicago Kent-College of Law, 2013, LL.M. Diploma with Honors.
  • Postgraduate studies in intellectual property law, University of Warsaw.

Contact

Please feel free to contact me in copyright, gaming
and high-tech law aspects.