Entertainment law // Video games
Protecting your game is important—and achievable.
Creating a game takes your time and attention. The right legal foundation helps protect the game, the studio, and the business opportunities around them—without forcing you to explain game development from the beginning.
Development checkpoint
Build the game. Protect what makes it yours.
A game can involve code, art, music, names, teams, contractors, licenses, publishers, platforms, and players. Sean Méndez-Catlin helps developers, producers, creators, and game businesses identify the legal pieces that matter at each stage.
Developer legal loadout
Start and protect your creation.
The 1UP Lawyer provides direct guidance for the agreements, registrations, company documents, and disputes that can shape a game's development and commercial future.
Copyright registration
Independent contractor agreements
Indie studio formation & documentation
Publishing agreements
Licensing agreements
Dispute resolution
Trademark monitoring
From an early prototype and a new studio to a publishing opportunity or live brand, legal decisions should support the build—not interrupt it.
Why choose The 1UP Lawyer?
Legal guidance that understands the world you are building in.
Work directly with Sean to understand your options, protect ownership and leverage, and move ahead with a legal strategy grounded in gaming and digital business.
Game-industry fluency
Spend less time explaining development, publishing, content, and community fundamentals—and more time addressing the legal decision in front of you.
Clear, informed deals
Understand compensation, ownership, creative control, milestones, deliverables, and the long-term impact of an agreement.
Intellectual property protection
Use trademarks, copyright, contracts, licenses, and monitoring to protect the game and brand you are building.
Dispute resolution & litigation
Get direct guidance when a contract, ownership, payment, licensing, or other game-business conflict arises.
How we protect your game
A clearer path from concept to launch.
Start the conversation
Tell Sean about your game, team, stage of development, opportunity, and legal concerns.
Build your protection plan
Review priorities and put the right agreements, registrations, company documents, and licenses in place.
Defend & enforce your rights
Take informed action if a dispute threatens the game, brand, studio, ownership, control, or revenue.
Ready for the next build?
Your game deserves legal protection.
Before you sign the next deal or launch the next version, understand what it means for your work, your company, and what comes next.
Schedule a consultation