TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Jaclyn Tsai, Aaron Chen, Teresa Huang and Jaime Cheng, Lee, Tsai & Partners
• Restricted game warnings: For R-rated games, a warning must be indicated that the game is only available for purchase or use by individuals aged 18 and above. 9.2 Regulatory Bodies The gaming industry in Taiwan is regulated jointly by central and local government authorities. At the central level, the Administration for Digital Industries under the MODA serves as the primary regulator, while local governments are responsi - ble for enforcing relevant regulations. If standard form contracts used by gaming businesses vio - late mandatory or prohibited provisions outlined in applicable regulations, regulatory bodies may require corrections within a specified timeframe under the Consumer Protection Act. Failure to comply within the deadline may result in fines, and persistent non-compliance could lead to repeated penalties. In recent years, Taiwan has experienced a surge in fraud cases, with game point scams being a significant concern. To address this issue, the MODA has implemented anti-fraud measures for game points. These measures involve collabo - ration among game point card providers, game businesses, convenience stores and customer service providers to establish fraud prevention mechanisms and intercept fraudulent financial flows. 9.3 Intellectual Property Copyright Protection for Game Businesses Under Taiwan’s Copyright Act, works are clas - sified into various categories, including but not limited to: • oral and literary works; • musical works; • dramatic and choreographic works; • artistic works;
• audiovisual works; • sound recordings; and • computer programs. Taiwan courts have ruled that games often com - prise multiple types of works, such as: • Oral and literary works: Main storylines, dia - logues, key characters, action moves, set - tings and item names may be protected. • Artistic works: Character designs, props and scene illustrations are considered artistic works. • Musical works: Sound effects are classified as musical works. For these elements to receive copyright protec - tion, they must reflect original human creativ - ity, express the author’s individuality and not fall under exclusions provided by law. However, game rules and user interfaces com - monly used by users are not protected under the Copyright Act. In cases of copyright infringement, copyright holders may: • request the infringer to remove the infringe - ment; • claim compensation for damages; and/or • require the infringer to publish all or part of the court’s judgment in newspapers or maga - zines at the infringer’s expense. The common IP challenge faced by game devel - opers in Taiwan is allegations of plagiarism between games. Courts typically evaluate two key factors to determine copyright infringement:
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