Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.31141/zrpfs.2021.58.139.163
E-sport and the question of the future legal structure of e-sports clubs
Ratko Brnabić
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Splitu, Split, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The paper proves that e-sports is primarily a serious economic venture dominated by publishers of video and computer games used as a platform for competition. E-sport has grown out of a subculture and has become an independent and self-sustaining ecosystem in which economically and market-powerful players participate. In e-sports, there is no organizational structure that would correspond to the organizational and hierarchical structure that exists in classic sports. The freedoms of the digital world allow e-athletes to compete without forming a pyramid structure with an umbrella sports federation at the helm. Publishers are often at the same time the organizers of these competitions and the competitors are organized in the so-called clans. By organizing competitions, the publishers popularize their product and thus increase their profit from the sale of games and other goods related to computer games. Along with them, sponsors, investors, the marketing sector, organizers of games of chance and spectators appear as stakeholders in the e-sports venture. Unlike “classic” sports in which there is no copyright protection in the sense that someone designed the sport and its rules, in e-sports a computer program (program code) is protected, which is the basis of a video game. The mentioned system is developing even without the “title” of sport, so the real question is what advantages and disadvantages the recognition of e-sport would bring to its key stakeholders. The advantages of e-sports recognition are its wider social acceptance, which also affects its popularity, better access to public funding, easier obtaining of visas and residence permits for e-sportsmen, greater legal security and faster global development through cooperation with other sports organizations. On the other hand, subjecting e-sports to the regime of sports law has its challenges because then the rules on doping, protection of minors and integrity of sports are applied to e-sports stakeholders. The Statute and other autonomous acts of the Croatian Olympic Committee are flexible enough for the national umbrella association for e-sports to become its member, but a key role in this process will be played by the International Olympic Committee, which sends signals that e-sports (at least through electronic sports simulations) is getting close of fulfilling the conditions required for any human activity to be recognized as sport. When e-sports are granted the status of a sport then its stakeholders shall become subjects of sports law. In connection with the legal structure of sports clubs in our country, it follows that e-sports clubs will be able to choose between two legal forms: sports associations and sports joint stock companies. Taking into account the current situation, it can be concluded that sports associations, as a rule, will be the first choice due to all its features described in this paper.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
252085
URI
Datum izdavanja:
9.2.2021.
Posjeta: 2.592 *