EPT
This is an interview with Paul Sams regarding the whole negotiation they successfully did with KeSPA. You might be interested in it to see what Blizzard thinks of this whole deal.
It doesn't include any new news though.
Edit: Milkis got me few new things to translate. See "additional information added" section.
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Paul Sams: "All negotiations require the co-existence of satisfaction and ablility to make concessions."
May 27th, Blizzard Entertainment's COO Paul Sams spoke a bit about recent IP negotiations with KeSPA with the Korean press team that happened to be visiting the Blizzard's main office in USA.
Paul Sams participated in the interview with earnest attitude despite tons of questions being asked by the Korean press members. Although many of the questions focused around the process of the negotiation itself -- with Paul Sams stating "It's only been two weeks since negotiation." -- he participated actively in the interview for an about an hour.
- What is the reason behind the sudden negotiation while the lawsuit was in progress?
▲ First of all, I want to mention that this wasn't a sudden decision. We've been talking with KeSPA, OnGameNet, and MBCGame for four years so far. The lawsuit was just a last resort thing when there was absolutely nothing else we could do, but originally, this problem shouldn't have progressed into that. At last, every party involved participated in the negotiations with positive, open mind, and we were finally able to produce this result. I am happy that this has come to be a positive news for the eSports business.
- It appears both parties yielded a bit, any other reasons besides that?
▲ It might appear that we all have yielded something in order to have a successful negotiation considering we had a very differing positions, but no one side can be very demanding over the other in negotiations. The problem we both realized was that with the negotiations going sour, it was starting to have an impact on the gamers, and that IP rights had to be respected. As mentioned in the recent interview, the most important thing for Blizzard was to have our IP rights protected. Since that part is now fulfilled, we were able to accept the demands of the other party.
This thing has been receiving a huge attention, so those who are following this might focus on "who yielded first", but I want to say it's all because both parties were able to come to an agreement successfully.
- What is the Blizzard's IP rights requirements? What about the derivative works and reselling broadcasting rights?
▲ I cannot answer these questions in depth as these are covered in an NDA, so please be understanding of that. Anyway, what I can tell you is that all derivative works (such as broadcasted shows) using StarCraft: Brood War, their IP rights will belong to KeSPA and OGN-MBCGame. It is also possible for them to take these contents, then sell them as they see fit for various platforms they might be planning. However, there is the requirement that if they wish to open up a new SC: BW league elsewhere, they must negotiate with Blizzard again.
As for the IP rights themselves, The products that we made with our time, resources, and personnel are our properties. It should be noted, when either consumers or businesses buy StarCraft, they are not only buying the product, they are also buying the license to be able to play and watch the said product. However, this does not mean that they are also granted full IP rights to the product. Such rights belong exclusively with Blizzard.
Even from the start of negotiations, that some sort of license being needed is something both sides agreed on. It's just that there were some clashing of opinions in details, and working that out took time. KeSPA and OGN-MBCGame had come to acknowledge that licensing requirement (with our products), and that allowed us to proceed with the negotiation as quickly as possible for the fans.
- Why the sudden change in the position of acknowledging derivative works?
▲ That's a misunderstanding. For the rights of derivative works to exist, the rights of original works must be acknowledged. In the past, there were no mention of the derivative works because the problems with the original works have not yet been resolved. So it's not the problem with derivative works that the negotiations stalled. To Blizzard, recognizing the IP rights of SC: BW is a very important thing, and to KeSPA and OGN-MBCGame, recognizing the IP rights of their broadcasts is a very important thing -- and that allowed us to come to an agreement. As a person who has been involved with this company for 20 years, doing all sorts of negotiations and directing business, I want to re-emphasize how important it is for both sides to be able to make concessions when problems like this pop up.
- Does this mean that from now on, as long as original works' IP rights are acknowledged, the rights to the derivative works will be given? Does this also affect StarCraft 2 and other nations?
▲ It's unrealistic to expect everything will proceed like this when all negotiations and contracts can change depending on the situations and conditions. The licensing agreement isn't something that is decided in certain way, and if one side demands their conditions by stating precedences, Blizzard may not participate in negotiations. The negotiations must proceed based upon our and other party's situations.
- The negotiations took place, interestingly enough, in the same time as GomTV's exclusive rights licensing ending. If SC 2 based licensing must be renewed during such time period, how will that proceed?
▲ Well, such timings are all purely coincidental. It's simply impossible to mention something while predicting the future. We always focus right on the present. Right now, it is important to keep good relations with KeSPA and OGN-MBCGame, and in the future, we will focus more on how to make more gamers and users to enjoy eSports. If you asked "How will this contract turn out" two years ago, we would not be able to tell that the results we have today would happen.
- What is the biggest asset that Blizzard gained through the negotiation?
▲ We've certainly gained a lot of things, but this also goes to KeSPA and OGN-MBCGame as well. For us, the biggest asset is that we were able to protect our IP rights, while being able to enforce them.
Secondly, there were problems due to the fact this negotiation proceeded openly despite our expectations. I don't think anyone likes negotiations taking place openly. However, it's also good to see that no one is being put in a negative light anymore with this negotiation coming to pass.
The important point here is that, we can now focus on progamers' rights, and user experience instead. The fact that KeSPA and OGN-MBCGame no longer have to waste their energy, and that they can now focus on the further growth of eSports business, is certainly a great news.
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Additional information added:
- During first quarter's conference call, there was an announcement that Blizzard will focus on turning existing StarCraft users into StarCraft 2 users. Do you have any concrete plans for that?
▲ That's a question we get a lot. People ask, "Why would you want to convert people from SC to SC 2? How will you do it?". The reason is simple. It's our newest product. This is something that all companies do by default.
Out of all RTS games Blizzard developed, there's none that matches StarCraft in quality. It provided gamers with experience never seen before through excellent playability as well as B.net experience.
There are many ways to convert the SC 1 users to SC 2. Blizzard's local offices decide how they will go about it. Basically though, there is a big loyalty to StarCraft series, so I don't think there will be a problem with users converting to SC 2. I think it's already proven by the fact StarCraft 2 is the game that managed to sell a lot in such a short amount of time.
- What will Blizzard do to continue the popularity of StarCraft into StarCraft 2 in Korea?
▲ Koreans definitely have a very large loyalty toward StarCraft. The place that made playing StarCraft fun is Korea. We certainly agree that there's not much reason to switch to StarCraft 2 when Koreans are already very satisfied with StarCraft.
Therefore, we plan to provide chances to experience StarCraft 2 better than ever. A lot of Koreans know what StarCraft 2, but the rate of these players actually playing is rather low. So, we're going to focus on how to make it easier to approach, and to enjoy.
In fact, StarCraft didn't gain huge following right after its release in Korea. It took a year at least to gain a huge following. StarCraft is like a toy that you are used to, or the clothing that you've worn for a while. It's old, you've used them many times, you're comfortable with them. I think if they come to experience StarCraft 2 proper, they can enjoy it too. We are that confident about the quality of StarCraft 2.
- Currently, GomTV has the rights to StarCraft 2 tournament operation and broadcasting in Korea. However, Blizzard gave the rights to StarCraft 2 directly to WCG. As seen in that example, can other associations bypass GomTV and get license from Blizzard to start a new SC 2 league?
▲ WCG is a global tournament. GomTV only has the licensing power in Korea. Therefore, WCG acquired a license from us directly. We want to make it clear now that we don't provide any special exceptions for any specific associations.
Right now, we're very satisfied with the effort GomTV is putting in to make StarCraft 2 more popular in Korea. So, there won't be a situation where a different association will be able to start their own StarCraft 2 leagues through us. We greatly respect GomTV and thankful for all that they do.
- What is the vision of Blizzard regarding eSports?
▲ Blizzard's vision for eSports doesn't have anything to do with the present. What we want to see is the globalization of eSports. We think that Korea's eSports scene is the greatest of them all, to a point where one can say that Korea is the capital of eSports. However, what we want to see is to see eSports to be active in the global market, not just in Korea. We will put forth our best effort and support to reach that goal.
In that process, Korea is the leading market example for that. eSports broadcasting started very early for Korea, and it grew into something that isn't out of ordinary to see in Korea. Also, everyday people enjoying eSports is not something seen as strange in Korea. We are finding ways to make eSports be popular globally by watching and learning what is taking place in Korea.
- Then what do you think will happen to Korean eSports scene?
▲ I'll take a certain boxing player as an example. He used to be the best in his nation, then he grew to become an international boxing star.
Like that, I think there can be a ton of progress made here, if great Korean progamers show off what they can do to the world. It'll be a great sight to behold to see Korean progamers take it to the world's stage, have great competition with other nation's players, and to participate in the global stage.
What we want is to see eSports globally popular, and for that, we will watch Korea carefully.
