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.