ROYAL OAK – Augmented Reality now has First Amendment Free Speech Protection after attorney Brian Wassom from Warner Norcross & Judd won a court case in December that would have forced Candy Lab AR to buy permits for its customers to use public parks to play Texas Rope ‘Em, an AR game.
The case represents a big win for the gaming community, and also for Wassom, the co-chairman of the newly created Emerging Media and Connected Devices group.
Brian Wassom, Partner, Warner Norcross & Judd
“AR Games are entitled to First Amendment protection,” Wassom said. “The county disputed that. The court ruled the ordinance was not anywhere close to being narrowly tailored, and as a result impinges upon free speech. The county’s efforts to regulate the publication of video games in the hopes that it would change behavior in public parks was, in the court’s words, like burning down a house to roast a pig.”
The County Board approved the settlement on Dec. 14 unanimously. But there was discussion over why it got struck down and what comes next. You can read more about the hearing by clicking on https://milwaukeecounty.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3217619&GUID=2E45BF4A-89F9-44ED-A1CC-C326662FAE41&Options=&Search=#
In other news, Wassom has been named vice chair of the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Copyright Committee.
Wassom will serve a two-year term on the committee, which seeks to increase the interest and involvement of AIPLA members in copyright law and to improve copyright policy, legislation and jurisprudence by working directly with the U.S. Copyright Office and other government agencies and by providing input to Congress and the courts. He also leads the group’s subcommittee on Copyright Office Modernization.
To get more details on both announcements, click on https://soundcloud.com/podcastdetroit/m2techcast-episode-109-warnernorcross-judd-ar-law
