This month, we applied a number of search techniques to draft and deploy an industry-specific, legal newsletter. The work took us about an hour but the bulk of the work was drafting effective prompts. The most challenging part of a project like this one is perfecting the prompts. Here, further improvements can be made for structure and tone, among other things. We estimate projects like these should take 2-4 hours to complete.Once complete, newsletter drafting should take approximately 30 minutes each month. It’s an efficient way to serve your clients and market your firm.
Our basic steps to complete this project are below this Video Game Industry Legal Newsletter.
Executive Summary
Multiple measures carve out or define treatment of video game consoles/services: Virginia excludes “video game console” from right-to-repair; Missouri and Nebraska exclude online video gaming services where social interaction or UGC is incidental.
- Trend: Multiple bills exclude in-game bots from “companion chatbot” definitions, limiting them to video-game-related replies and prohibiting discussion of mental health, self-harm, or sexually explicit content.
- States are moving to require ESRB or similar age ratings as a condition of sale, with Alabama proposing an ESRB mandate and DTPA enforcement beginning October 1, 2026.
- Youth online safety proposals increasingly regulate online video games as “covered platforms,” adding microtransaction parental notices, communications controls, and private enforcement mechanisms.
- Courts are narrowing anti-SLAPP protection for defamation arising in mod/fandom communities when posts do not contribute to public debate, while sustaining specific jurisdiction over targeted online harassment aimed at forum residents.
Legislative Developments
Alabama — ESRB Age Rating Mandate for Video Games
Summary: Requires video games sold in this state to be rated for age appropriateness; and to provide penalties for a violation.
Excerpt: “If 25 or more units of a video game have been sold within this state, the manufacturer of the video game shall ensure that, prior to the continued sale of the video game, the game is rated by the ESRB or a similar nationally recognized video game rating organization and has a suggested level of age appropriateness.”
Guidance: Ensure that the video game rating is physically printed onto the packaging or displayed in a conspicuous place at the point of purchase and make reasons available online.
Effective date/penalties: Effective on October 1, 2026; violations deemed under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Mississippi — Kids Online Protection and Anti-Grooming Act
Summary: Imposes duty of care on “online video game” platforms used by minors and 24-hour notices for microtransactions/exposure/connections.
Excerpt: “A covered platform shall notify the legal representative of a minor via text, voice or email within twenty-four (24) hours if … A minor makes a microtransaction on a covered platform.”
Guidance: Prohibit adult-minor connections/messages unless initiated/connected by the minor; restrict geolocation disclosure.
Effective date/enforcement: Liable for damages, court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees; effective July 1, 2026.
Florida — AI Companion Chatbots (Excluding In-Game Bots)
Summary: Requires warnings, suicide-prevention protocols, age verification, minor protections, and DLA reporting.
Excerpt: “Companion chatbots are AI-generated and not human. Companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors.”
Guidance: Publish protocol; include 988 referral; prohibit chat about self-harm; age verification per s. 501.1737.
Exclusions: A bot that is a feature of a video game and is limited to replies related to the video game cannot discuss topics related to mental health, self-harm, or sexually explicit conduct.
Florida — Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights
Summary/Excerpt: “A chatbot that is a feature of a video game and is limited to replies related to the video game” (exclusion from companion chatbot).
Guidance/Penalties: “A companion chatbot platform that knowingly or recklessly violates this section is liable to a minor account holder for up to $10,000 in damages.”
Tennessee — AI Companionship Restrictions
Summary/Excerpt: “It is an offense for a person to knowingly train artificial intelligence to: … Provide emotional support … act as a companion … Simulate a human being …”
Game bot exclusion: “A bot that is a feature of a video game and is limited to replies related to the video game …”
Penalties: A violation is a Class A felony. Liquidated damages $150,000. Takes effect July 1, 2026.
Oklahoma — AI Companion Chatbots
Excerpt/Exclusion: “a chatbot that is a feature of a video game and is limited to replies related to the video game …”
Penalties: “The Attorney General may collect a civil penalty of up to Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) per violation.”
Virginia — Digital Right to Repair Act
Summary/Excerpt: “Nothing in this chapter shall apply to … a video game console.”
Guidance: Video game consoles are expressly excluded from the Act’s right-to-repair obligations.
Arizona — True Ownership Act
Summary/Excerpt: “An original EQUIPMENT manufacturer may not disable electronic EQUIPMENT … solely because an owner has made a modification …”
Guidance/Penalties: “An owner may bring a civil action … To recover actual damages … not more than $1,000 per violation.”
Missouri — “Show MO” Tax Credits Include Video Games
Summary/Excerpt: “Qualified motion media production project”, any film or series production, including … video games, webisodes, … virtual reality, augmented reality, multi-media, and new media …
Guidance: Base 20% credit with stackable 5% increments; caps rise to sixteen million dollars per year from 2027; sunset December 31, 2035 unless reauthorized.
Nebraska — Social Media Data Collection Excise Tax
Summary/Excerpt: “Social media platform does not include: … (IV) A streaming service, online video game, e-commerce, or other Internet website where the content is not user generated but where interactive functions … are incidental …”
Guidance: Online video games without user-generated content as a substantial purpose fall outside the defined “social media platform,” narrowing potential liability for ad-related obligations.
Missouri — Social Media Safety for Minors
Summary/Excerpt: “‘Social media platform’ … does not include … (c) Online video gaming services with integrated chat where social interaction is incidental;”
Guidance: Gaming services with incidental chat are excluded from the bill’s requirements, signaling reduced compliance exposure compared to general social platforms.
Florida — State Trademark Classification Alignment
Summary/Excerpt: “The department shall use the international schedule of classes of goods and services as set forth in 37 C.F.R. s. 6.1” and Class 28 includes “video game apparatus.”
Guidance/Deadline: Online application system available no later than July 1, 2027; act effective July 1, 2026.
New Jersey — Digital Media Content Tax Credits
Summary/Excerpt: “Digital media content” means… “video games; visual effects; interactive media, including virtual, augmented, or mixed reality”.
Guidance: Payments to loan out companies or independent contractors only count as qualified expenses if services are performed in New Jersey and required withholding is made.
Regulatory Developments
Nebraska — Rulemaking for Social Media Data Collection Tax
Summary/Excerpt: Sec. 8. The Tax Commissioner may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out the Social Media Collection of Consumer Data Tax Act.
Guidance: Excise tax begins January 1, 2027 with tiered amounts and sales/use tax filing cycles.
Florida — Battery Collection and Recovery
Summary/Excerpt: “The term does not include … video game consoles.” (battery-containing product definition).
Guidance/Deadlines: Producer/retailer membership and labeling begin January 1, 2028; chemistry/disposal labeling January 1, 2029.
Case Law
Tayts v. Gacutan & Ervin (Cyberpunk 2077 Mod Community)
Summary: Ervin’s motion to dismiss denied; Gacutan’s antiSLAPP denied; IIED and civil harassment claims against Gacutan dismissed with leave to amend; early discovery denied.
Excerpt: “it is not enough that the statement refer to a subject of widespread public interest; the statement must in some manner itself contribute to the public debate.”
Guidance: Defamation disputes within game mod fandoms may fall outside § 425.16 protection absent a showing of contribution to a public debate.
Additional Litigation Signals
Clemente Properties, Inc. v. Pierluisi-Urrutia, — F.4th —- (2026): False endorsement analysis referenced “a television program about the production of a football video game.” Courts have interpreted the ‘in connection with goods or services’ requirement to cover a broad range of products.
Bot M8 LLC v. Sony Corp. of Am., 4 F.4th 1342: Referenced for pleading standards in tech/gaming contexts. The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal as the PlayStation system is a complex, multi-component platform.
Practical Compliance Checklist
- ESRB rating readiness in Alabama by Oct. 1, 2026: Ensure rating is printed on packaging or conspicuously displayed at purchase.
- In-game chatbots: Maintain “videogameonly” replies; block mental health/self-harm/sexual topics to fit exclusions.
- Minor safety/microtransactions (MS): Enable 24-hour parent notices; restrict adult-minor messaging.
- Right-to-repair scope: Consoles excluded in VA; mods/owner rights protected in AZ proposals.
- Litigation posture: Anti-SLAPP risks in fandom disputes; purposeful direction jurisdiction standards applied.
Please contact us for jurisdiction-specific implementation plans, template policy updates, and product counseling aligned to these measures and decisions.
- Boolean: Yes! We still use Boolean. There are risks to Boolean queries. A broad Boolean query may be overly-inclusive in which case, you’ve got to do a lot of culling. Or, it’s under-inclusive and you’ve missed key data. On the other hand, Boolean is defensible. It’s a good way to demonstrate the pool of documents you’re starting from. Not every effort is left to the black box. We drafted a simple query here but an over-inclusive query is probably desired as we can scan results or use AI to do our culling. Here’s our Westlaw Query.
adv: “video gam!” and DA(aft 12/31/2025) % casino gambl! lottery - Process Results: We downloaded bills, proposed regulation, and case law. Then, we uploaded these results to a CoCounsel database.
- Draft Prompts: The biggest challenge in a project like this one is testing, improving, and saving effective AI prompts. The prompt below was our third attempt in CoCounsel. Improvements can be made for tone, structure, and content.
- Prompt (CoCounsel): I’m drafting a newsletter for my clients in the video game industry. Please review the attached documents and draft this newsletter for me. Include four main headings: Executive Summary, Legislative Developments, Regulatory Developments, and Case Law. The Executive Summary should summarize any trends or unique provisions which might impact the video game industry. The remaining sections should include a bluebook citation, very brief summary of the document, an excerpt of interesting language (if any), and any practical guidance for persons operating within the video game industry. The case law section need not include or summarize documents which do not pertain to the video game industry. The case law you should summarize should include developers or other industry stakeholders as parties to the case or should somehow impact the video game industry.
- Prompt (ChatGPT – 5.2): Create an email newsletter. Headings should be in 18 point, serif font similar to Merriwether and color is #c07262. Text should be Arial, 12pt font, and color is #30556f. The text and headings are as follows: … Include links to cited resources when they are available. This was our first attempt, quick and dirty, but it worked well for email. You can insert the code into gmail by composing an email, right-clicking, and selecting “inspect.” Then, place cursor in the body. The spot where you need to paste your html will highlight on the left.
- Prompt: (Gemini Canvas): ChatGPT struggled with formatting in other contexts. For the html block drop-in you see above, we used Gemini Canvas. Gemini was fast and required no follow ups from this prompt:
Create an html block using the attached document. Headings should be in 18 point, serif font similar to Merriwether and color is #c07262. Text should be Arial, 12pt font, and color is #30556f. Subheadings can be Arial, Dark Gray, 14 pt font. Include links to cited resources when they are available.