United Kingdom: Gaming

The Court of Appeal in R v Lakeman has determined that virtual gold pieces in the online role-playing game Old School Runescape constitute "property" for the purposes of the Theft Act 1968.

The prize draws and competitions (PDC) industry has grown rapidly in the UK in recent years. The market is smaller than the National Lottery but still significant. It is estimated that around 7.4 million adults (14% of the adult population) have participated in PDC's in the last year (as of November 2023), spending an estimated total of £1.3 billion.

The European Court of Justice ruled that software altering only variable content in a game's RAM, without reproducing source or object code, does not infringe copyright. This decision favors third-party accessory providers but limits copyright protections for console makers like Sony.