Hi Guys,

 I have just joined up in the hope that somebody may be able to help out with my query.

I am not looking to open up a gaming centre of any knid but I am looking for information and licensing for public use within the UK.

In a nutshell I am hoping to use an Xbox 360 in my local public house so I can arrange friendly tournaments. There will be no money involved for the use of the console or games and it will be local play on one large screen only. I have spoken in depth to Microsoft but nobody can help me out with the legal issue of using in a public place.

Could anybody point me in the right direction to finding out if what I want to acheieve is possible in areas such as;

Console use

Licensing fees and copyright laws on the following games - FIFA 08,  Fight night round 3,  PGR4,  DOA4 and Bomberman

And anything else I may have missed

I understand that there will be costs involved but where do I find them?

It has taken me three weeks to to get to this site and even though I am not a gaming centre I am sure that someone can help me out.

Many thanks in advance

I'm afraid you probably will not be getting much of a response on this forum. The number one reason being is that you are asking for legal advice for the UK. I suggest that you keep trying with Microsoft directly for the Xbox 360, somebody has the answer for you, you just need to be diligent about finding that person. Also, if they have a UK office I would work with them, as UK laws are much different than US laws.

As for the game titles, I would suggest finding a UK contact for the publishers of those titles you listed. The only license that iGames manages that is worldwide is Microsoft and it is for game centers usage of games only (no hardware or LIVE). If you want more information about this game center license and iGames membership, please email membership@igames.org.

Cheers!

Update!!

I just found out that we are currently updating our license agreement with Microsoft to included support for Xbox LIVE.  We are not sure if it will be approved but we are trying.  If it is approved it will be supported in the UK as the license is worldwide.