Games bill now goes to Senate plenary vote
The recess has ended and, starting on August 1st, the activities of the National Congress resume. The statutory deadline for voting on Senate Bill 383/2017, which regulates electronic sports, is also beginning to apply. The forecast is that, by the second half of the month, it will be in the Plenary of the House.
The bill is considered superficial and does not fully address the eSports community. But for Nicholas Bocchi, a sports law attorney, it is important to be voted on as soon as possible to ensure legal certainty for the industry. Even if the text only contemplates that sports law is applied to electronic sport. "Then there could be further discussions for the proposition of another, more robust bill that encompasses the specifics of eSport."
The most benefited from the approval of the project would be athletes, who would be protected by Brazilian sports legislation. "It is not known today which legislation a judge will consider and enforce if something turns out to be a case. Clubs and developers take advantage of the special sports contract as appropriate, but they do not assume the athlete's own labor responsibilities," Bocchi adds.
Danielle Maiolini, a sports law expert, believes that it is dangerous for the State to put itself in the position of defining what is and is not sport. "Sport is a social manifestation." eSport, in this case, already has a worldwide organization and prestige, and eSports athletes are already athletes for their activity. "Discussing the rights is positive. However, they already exist by the nature of the activity and can be claimed today, regardless of whether the bill is approved or not," reinforces Maiolini.
The industry is so representative that last week the Fortnite World Cup distributed US$ 30 million in prizes and had over 40 million players trying to make a place in the grand final. The competition's broadcast on YouTube still reached over 9 million people. In Brazil, data from consultancy Newzoo show that the game market moved US$ 1.5 billion last year, making our country the 13th largest market in the world, leader among Latin Americans.
Game XP 2019, held on July 25-28 in Rio de Janeiro, promoted Counter-Strike, League of Legends, DoTA2 and other games. According to the press office of the event, only the Brazilian Counter-Strike Championship distributed R$ 800 thousand (US$ 205,000).
Before the Congress recess, the discussion of eSport regulation in the Senate was the subject of much controversy. At the last session of the Committee on Education, Culture and Sport, the bill was approved with the analysis that "sport and violence are different things and the same reasoning applies to games of sexual, prejudiced, discriminatory or drug-friendly content." Thus, inappropriate and violent games will not be considered sport.
On this point, Leila Barros presented a position that was much criticized. "Volleyball and football are competition, not gun or shooting. When we talk about sport, were sports communities and entities heard in this report? No one was. Had a hearing? I apologize, I will have to vote no."
Nicholas Bocchi rated this understanding as "clearly an attempt at censorship. And censorship should be discussed in gaming legislation, not sport. It is already regulated by the Ministry of Justice, through indicative ratings." He also stressed that other sports, such as MMA, also obey specific times for broadcast on cable TV, as well as on-demand broadcasting.
Leila Barros received a letter from three eSport-related institutions (ESL, ABCDE and ESA) suggesting that the discussion on regulation be extended. "We need to be careful to move in a direction that could divert Brazil from a path that has been very successful so far and with great potential for success in the near future," the document says. The senator accepted the suggestion, managed to remove the terminative character of the matter in the EC and take the agenda to the Plenary. The goal now is to get support from ten other senators for the bill to be discussed again in a House committee and for a public hearing to be held. Riot Games and Ubisoft, organizers of the League of Legends and Rainbow Six modalities, also support the extension of the discussion.
"In fact, a public hearing has already been held in the course of this bill; at the first commission it was discussed. Even the amendment that does not consider violent games as sport was the result of it," says Nicholas Bocchi.
If the bill does not return to Senate committees, it goes to the House and can be changed there. If this happens, it goes back to new Senate validation. Otherwise, it goes to sanction (partial or total) or veto of the President. One of the points that still needs to be discussed more carefully is the issue of eSport management. Article 4 of PLS 383/2017 "recognizes as promoters of electronic sports activity the confederation, the federation, the league and the associative entity that, within their competencies, standardize and disseminate the practice of electronic sport."
It turns out that, unlike traditional sports, developers are the owners of games. "It has its differences, and the big challenge is to open that look," says Danielle Maiolini. To not fit eSports in the default format of a confederation, for example.
In this context it is very interesting to study the Korean market, informs Nicholas Bocchi. "KeSPA is a federation / association that unites all stakeholders there, acting as an intermediary and regulator of the market in an impartial manner, understanding the needs of developers, clubs, athletes and sponsors. KeSPA, while eventually hosting competitions, especially of the less-sponsored sports, is not seeking to be the ultimate entity of eSport, but to support the market as a whole."
Source: GMB / UOL
