---
title: "Esports Law"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/media-entertainment-and-sports-law-en/esports-law-en"
field: "Media, Entertainment & Sports Law"
description: "Esports law: streaming is the public transmission right (Article 18); match recordings are videograms (Article 49). Legal.ge."
reviewed: "2026-07-09"
updated: "2026-10-14"
publisher: "legal.ge"
---

# Esports Law

> Source: legal.ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/media-entertainment-and-sports-law-en/esports-law-en

## The Intellectual Layer of Esports

The firmest statutory foundation of esports law is the Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights. Every professional match runs on two layers of this law: the first is the video game itself — a computer program with the creative decisions embedded in it; the second is the live broadcast and the recording of the match — an audiovisual product created by the activity of the tournament organizer, the broadcaster or the player. Different subjects assert claims over these two layers, and it is precisely there that most esports disputes are born.

Under the law, the author or other holder of copyright has the exclusive right to use a work in any form — the right to carry out, permit or prohibit its use (Article 18). In esports this means that every form of commercial exploitation of a game — tournaments, broadcasts, recordings — rests on the consent of the person holding the rights to that game.

The full text is available on legal.ge after signing in: https://legal.ge/en/service/media-entertainment-and-sports-law-en/esports-law-en

### Who owns the broadcast right?

Public transmission is the exclusive right of the copyright holder (Article 18); on the recording, the videogram producer's right applies (Article 49) — distribution is settled by contract.

### Can a publisher claim against a tournament?

A game is a computer program governed by the author's rights (Article 19); each publisher's permission regime must be checked separately.

### Who owns the recording?

The videogram producer — organizer or broadcaster; the rights cover reproduction, distribution and transmission (Article 49).

### What about royalties?

The holder is entitled to a royalty for any form of use of the work (Article 18), a rule extending to esports content as well.