In the eyes of the law a video game is the union of two protected objects: the software, protected in the category of literary works, and the audiovisual content that lives through graphics, sound and script. Georgia has no special statute for games, and age-rating systems carry no mandatory legal force here — the relationships of developers, publishers and players are shaped by the copyright statute and by contract.
The Game as an Object of Protection
In the list of works of science, literature and art, the copyright statute names the literary work together with the computer program, and singles out the audiovisual work as a separate category — a game carries both marks. Especially important is the rule on programs: protection extends to computer programs of all kinds, operating systems included, expressed in any language and form, including the source text and the object code. Foreign rating systems remain private, voluntary standards: their age marks are of a marketing character and carry no mandatory consequences under Georgian legislation — compliance should be built on licensing and contract hygiene rather than imported rating regimes.
The Property Rights of the Program and Database Author
The statute grants the author of a computer program, alongside the general property rights, the exclusive right to carry out, permit or prohibit: reproduction of the program by any means and in any form, in whole or in part — where such reproduction requires loading, displaying, running, transmitting or storing the program, the author's consent is necessary; and the transfer from one programming language to another, adaptation, arrangement or any other alteration, together with the reproduction of the results obtained, with protection of the rights of the person altering the program. The author of a database holds a similar catalogue: temporary or permanent reproduction by any means and in any form, in whole or in part; translation, adaptation, arrangement or other alteration, and the reproduction, distribution, public communication, display or performance of the results, including any communication to the public with interactive direct transmission included. Every constituent inside a game — the engine, the assets, the data structures — is described by this catalogue.
What a Lawful User May Do
A person who lawfully owns a copy of a computer program or database may, without the author's consent and without paying a royalty: introduce changes necessary for the functioning of the user's technical means; carry out any action connected with the functioning of the program or database, including recording and storage in computer memory — for one computer or one network user; correct obvious errors — unless the copyright contract provides otherwise; and make a backup copy intended only for the archive, to replace a lost, destroyed or unusable copy. The backup copy may not be used for a purpose different from the rules stated, and it must be destroyed the moment ownership of the program ceases. These norms give the owner the general right of use — but no more: distributing the code, publishing modifications and commercial exploitation remain subject to the author's exclusive rights.
The Rules on Decompilation
A lawful owner may, without the author's consent and without paying a royalty, carry out decompilation — reproducing and transforming the object code into the source text — and commission it to other persons, where this is necessary to achieve the ability of a program created independently by that person to interact with other programs, under the following conditions: the actions were performed by a person who had the right to use the copy of the program, or by another person with the corresponding permission; the information necessary to achieve interoperability was not previously readily available from other sources; the actions concern only those parts of the decompiled program that are necessary to achieve interoperability; and the information obtained will be used only for achieving interoperability — it may not be transferred to other persons or used to develop a new program substantially similar to the decompiled one or for any other act infringing copyright. In the game context this rule concerns technical integration, not the perception of content.
Free Use of a Database
A lawful user of the original or a copy of a database may, without the author's consent, carry out the actions defined for databases where this is necessary for access to the database and for its normal use; where the user has the right to use only a part of the database, that right extends only to that part. For a game's internal data the same logic applies: access and use within normal functioning are unimpeded, stepping outside is not.
Do age ratings carry mandatory force?
No — foreign rating systems are voluntary standards and create no special mandatory consequences under Georgian legislation.
May a copy of a game be made?
A lawful owner may make a backup copy intended only for the archive, to replace a lost or unusable copy; it must be destroyed when ownership ceases.
When is decompilation permitted?
Where it is necessary to achieve interoperability with an independently created program, the information was not otherwise available and the data obtained are used only for that purpose.
Who controls the assets inside a game?
Assets and code are objects of copyright — the terms of their use are defined by the author or other right holder.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team helps development studios, publishers, platforms and individual creators with relationships around video games. We prepare licensing and publishing contracts, assess the rights to use third-party materials, defend games against piracy and represent you in disputes. Contact us for a consultation — we will tell you which rights you hold and how to protect your project at every stage.