Francesco Liotta is an independent videogame developer that publishes his works under the label of CINIC Games, a company he founded in 2015. CINIC Games produces PC and console games out of the box, with a strong artistic and narrative imprint.
Francesco recently started using Bernstein for securing the IP assets of his company and we took this opportunity to learn more about the videogame industry and its IP challenges.
Francesco, allow me to start by asking how is CINIC Games doing in these difficult times?
We are doing well, thanks! CINIC Games was born from the need to break the classic corporate paradigm, we opted since its inception for an open and flexible structure, which allows all team members to work remotely without a real central office. Therefore we did not have to reorganize our operations during the lockdown, since smart working was already a habit. We are also happy to see that many other videogames companies are gradually switching to this formula.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your activity?
Being a consumer-oriented business, our most gratifying experience is surely to see users positively welcome our products, as in the case of our first video game "The Wardrobe" which enjoyed a viral spread on social and content creation platforms in Italy.
A videogame, although a commercial product, is primarily an artistic expression. Its creators face long development cycles and inevitably pour their creativity and dedication into it. Bringing happiness to the players is by far the greatest satisfaction and the greatest reward.
How will Bernstein help CINIC Games in its operations? Which will be the most common use case?
Bernstein will help us on multiple levels. While our primary need is to create strong ownership claims for all the intellectual property assets within the company, it will also allow us to create better contractual agreements with employees, collaborators, and any other third party we work with.
Thanks to Bernstein we can secure all relevant aspects of our work, in a very comprehensive way. We will be able to document all creation, implementation, and commercialization steps. Starting from the initial drafts and scripts to the final product. We can use Bernstein to register any kind of digital assets: visuals, code, sounds, game strategy, … regardless of the file format and size. We love the unlimited, encrypted, and versioned storage that comes with the Bernstein account.
We also like the convenience of achieving such a high degree of protection with very limited efforts and costs. For small companies like ours, it is extremely important to avoid the burden and the expenses usually associated with a traditional IP management approach.
How do you think that the blockchain may benefit innovators and creative? What do you think is the role of IP in today's digital world?
We strongly believe that proper attribution of authorship is a central aspect of modern IP. This topic and related issues are very important to us.
Leveraging the blockchain to achieve strong proof of existence and ownership would make the implementation of cease and desist initiative much more effective. Now innovators have access to this global and immutable registry and this fact will also act as a deterrent against illegal exploitation and misappropriation by a third party.
At the same time, the blockchain is also an effective and safe way to place a knowledge item in the public domain, allowing fair use and quotation.
Thanks, Francesco!