| In Principle

A game is only as good as its creators. Therefore, it is in the interest of game development companies to keep their staff happy, so they don’t even think about switching to the competition. In addition, however, it is worth taking preventive measures, e.g. including clauses in contracts preventing the poaching of valuable employees and independent contractors.

The programme is a synthesis of important current events in the Polish economy and changes to Polish law, especially those that may concern management board members and affect the risk of serving on boards.

At the beginning of 2021, Poland’s competition authority issued two decisions regarding concentrations of undertakings in the media market. The first decision by the president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) banned Agora SA’s acquisition of control over Eurozet sp. z o.o., while the second allowed PKN Orlen SA to acquire control over Polska Press sp. z o.o. Both decisions are heavily commented on in the media. It is worth looking at them from the point of view of the legal constructions they raise.

Work is underway on a bill called the Act on Protection of the Rights of Acquirers of Residential Units or Single-Family Houses and the Developers Guarantee Fund (print 985). The bill was approved by the Sejm, the Senate adopted amendments, and the bill will now be reconsidered by the Sejm. Entry into force of the new act will impose additional new duties on developers. The aim is to better protect homebuyers against the loss of funds invested in residential developments, particularly when the developer becomes insolvent before the project is completed. Is the new instrument likely to fulfil its intended function?

Multiplayer games are an increasingly important market segment. All kinds of features allowing players to communicate during gameplay, such as voice communication and text chats, largely account for their popularity. While player interaction is desired by players themselves and game developers, it can involve inappropriate and even unlawful player behaviour. What is the provider of an online game to do in such a situation?

Nearly two months ago the Ministry of Climate and Environment published a proposal to implement the Single-Use Plastics Directive ((EU) 2019/904) into Polish law. The amendment is supposed to enter into force no later than 3 July 2021, but it is raising many doubts.

The European Union is preparing a shared health data space. It is designed to facilitate treatment for Europeans (within the EU) and to consolidate a high standard of medical products and services across all member states. It is also a method for meeting European aspirations for patients’ rights and ensuring more effective treatment and research.

When establishing the conditions for participating in a contract award procedure, contracting authorities often face the dilemma of how to reflect the specific subject matter of the procurement without infringing the principle of proportionality. This task is even harder when the procurement involves specialised medical equipment, where improper servicing could put patients’ life or health at risk. Do such circumstances justify limiting the number of bidders seeking a contract? Yes, the National Appeal Chamber held in its ruling of 29 January 2021 (case no. KIO 3489/20).

The programme is a synthesis of important current events in the Polish economy and changes to Polish law, especially those that may concern management board members and affect the risk of serving on boards.

In our series we have addressed the issue of protecting a video game against cloning in the context of lack of legal protection for an idea for a game. In this article, we will take a broader look at this problem.

Nerves, feverish analysis, and refinement of details are typical crunch elements before a video game is released on the market. Crunch, a period of intense work, usually shortly before the launch of a game, involves long working days, nights and weekends in front of a computer, sometimes on tasks the worker has never performed before. Can the employer order the employee to work under such conditions, and must the employee comply?

Trade secrets are a sensitive aspect of public procurement proceedings. They limit the principle of openness of proceedings, but protect sensitive information about the contractor’s business. When granting or denying a request to keep certain information secret, the contracting authority should carefully assess the contractor’s arguments, to prevent abuse of this institution. Despite entry into force of the new Public Procurement Law, this issue is still alive, as evidenced by the recently published ruling of the National Appeal Chamber of 29 March 2021 (case no. KIO 720/21).