Source code as a literary work

Is game code copyrighted? US and UK rules on source code

Updated 2026-10-28

Game code is protected the moment it is written. What a studio can sell depends on who wrote it and whether the copyright moved to the studio.

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Protected in both countries

US law defines a computer program as a set of statements or instructions used in a computer to bring about a result, and the Copyright Office says source and object code are two representations of the same work. The UK protects a program as a literary work under section 3 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.

Source: Copyright rules on game code

Registering it in the US

Circular 61 asks for one copy of the first twenty-five and last twenty-five pages of the source code, and a registration for one version does not cover later versions.

Source: Copyright rules on game code

Code a tool generated

For a computer-generated work the UK treats the author as the person by whom the arrangements necessary for its creation were made, under section 9(3).

Source: Copyright rules on game code

Who takes game code once the title is clear is on game source code marketplace.

Tell us what the repositories hold

Tell us the engine, the middleware and where the assets came from, and we will check them against the 20 licence documents on this board in a written reply.

The code

What is in the repositories?

What engine is the code written against?

Our reply

Your name

Work email

Engineers and staff employed today

Add more detail (optional)

Optional, but it helps us answer fully first time.

Does the code call licensed middleware or console SDKs?

Has the studio licensed its code or data before?

Our data is our product (we already license or sell it) Once or twice Not before now

Who holds a licence to the code now?

Has a buyer offered for the code already?

Yes, there is an offer No offer so far

What is happening at the studio?

Annual revenue, roughly, in dollars or pounds

How many years of commit history do you have?

Language of the code comments and commit messages

When could the repositories be reviewed?

Country the studio is registered in

Your role, for example CTO or studio head

Anything about the publisher contract, bought assets or engine licence?

Details

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Find out which parts of your code you can license

Tell us the engine, the middleware and where the assets came from, and we will check them against the 20 licence documents on this board in a written reply.

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Sources

This site's own datasets, every figure quoted from its source and dated:

The law on copyright in a game's code: 10 US and UK rules on copyright in a game's source code, read 28 October 2026.
What a game's source tree lets a seller pass on: 7 of 19 engine, middleware and asset store licences we read let their code or content leave a studio only compiled into the shipped game, read 28 October 2026.
Game middleware software data terms: 0 of 19 game middleware software vendors whose terms we read reserve the right to use their customers' data in aggregated or anonymised form, read 28 October 2026.
Who takes a game's source code: 3 of 14 organisations and marketplaces whose pages we read take a game's code without taking ownership of it, read 28 October 2026.

No.	Source	Published by
[1]	Unreal Engine EULA	unrealengine.com
[2]	Unreal Engine content EULA	unrealengine.com
[3]	Unity Editor Software Terms	unity.com
[4]	Unity Package Distribution License	unity.com
[5]	Unity Asset Store Terms of Service and EULA	unity.com
[6]	Fab EULA	fab.com
[7]	CRYENGINE Terms of Service	cryengine.com
[8]	O3DE licence (Apache 2.0)	github.com

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