Legal admissibility of the platform www.mmonster.co
Index:
I. Business model of the mmonster.co (LTD)
II. Positive effects of the platform www.mmonster.co
III. Legal assessment of the business model
IV. Result of the legal assessment of the business model
I. Business model of the mmonster.co
The company MMONSTER (LTD), 86-90 Paul Street, EC2A 4NE London, United Kingdom offers online players on its platform www.mmonster.co the possibility of monitoring and organization of support and assistance in online computer games.
The mmonster.co explicitly does not participate in the gaming process of the above mentioned games and therefore has no reference to the end user license agreements of the game manufacturers/ publishers. The mmonster.co is not involved in the gaming pro-cess and does not create, promote or sell any software that affects the gameplay of the listed games in any way.
The mmonster.co also does not influence the gaming experience of other players. As a mediator, mmonster.co is completely neutral and does not interfere with the concept of the respective games. In it´s role as an external mediator, the mmonster.co therefore has no connection to the terms of use of the respective online gaming platforms.
The mmonster.co ultimately offers two types of services:
1. Organisation and monitoring of assistance or support services by handing over an account
With this form of service, the gaming account of a player (buyer of the service) of the respective game is handed over to another player (service provider). For this purpose, the service provider player logs into the account of the buyer and participates in the gameplay instead of the buyer.
In this case, the responsibility of the mmonster.co consists in ensuring the se-curity of the personal data of the buyer. In addition, the mmonster.co guarantees that the account transfer will take place properly and without misuse of the account.
2. Organisation and monitoring of assistance or support services without handing over the account (Selfplay)
Using this form of service, the buyer of the service himself takes part in the gaming process. He is supported by one or more service provider players, who support him during the game to achieve a self-chosen goal.
The task of the mmonster.co in this case is to arrange an appointment with both parties (service provider player and buyer) to determine the conditions of the assis-tance or support and ensure that all agreed conditions are fulfilled.
In addition to the mmonster.co, there are hundreds of other providers who pursue the same business model in identical or similar form, both on the German market or worldwide. The presented form of assistance regarding online games has been existent for more than 10 years and has grown exponentially during this time.
II. Positive effects of the platform www.mmonster.co
The purchase of services in the above mentioned form is also possible without the interven-tion of the mmonster.co as an intermediary. Interactions are then usually conducted via trading platforms such as eBay, Fiverr or gaming forums. However, it is not uncommon for players to cheat each other, steal player accounts or have the content of their accounts fraud-ulently misused by others. First and foremost, the mmonster.co ensures that buyers of services are not cheated and user accounts are not stolen or otherwise misused.
Furthermore, online games are designed in a manner that makes the success of a game directly dependent on how much time is invested, without taking sufficient consideration of the personal playing skills of the players. This can significantly reduce interest in the game and thus also have a detrimental effect on the publishers. In order to compensate this disad-vantage, the help of other players can be obtained. In addition, the use of assistance can lead to other positive effects, such as continuing the game after a longer break, without losing motivation or giving up. The mmonster.co is able to provide assistance or help in a fair and transparent manner without the disadvantages described above in the form of account abuse etc.
III. Legal assessment of the business model
There are no legal objections to the mmonster.co's business model, as there is no interference with the terms of use of the online gaming platforms or the end user license agreements of the respective game manufacturers/publishers. Therefore, neither injunctive relief claims by the game manufacturers/publishers or online game platforms nor claims for damages against the mmonster.co would be justified in any way.
1. Contractual omission claims
Contractual claims for injunctive relief do not exist, as there is no contractual relationship between the mmonster.co and the manufacturers/publishers of the above named online games. Likewise, no contractual relationship exists between the mmonster.co and the online gaming platforms on which the online games are played. As stated above, the mmonster.co is merely an intermediary platform which enables the buyers of the games to obtain assistance from third parties in the context of the respective gameplay.
a) Claims for injunctive relief cannot be derived from the respective terms of use of the online gaming platforms, as no contractual contractual basis is established be-tween the platforms and the mmonster.co. In this respect, the terms of use in accordance with §§ 305 BGB cannot be effectively included, regardless of the per-missibility of such game restrictions according to §§ 305 c and 307 ff. BGB. The agree-ments on the creation of an account with an online gaming platform are solely con-cluded between the players and the online gaming platform.
b) Claims for injunctive relief against the mmonster.co also cannot be based on the end user license agreements of the respective game manufacturers/publishers, as the end user license agreements are not agreed between the mmonster.co and the respective game manufacturers.
The offer to conclude the respective end user license agreement is granted automat-ically during the installation process or after each software update and is directed to the person operating the PC. The contractual partner for the respective terms of use is therefore not the mmonster.co, which as a legal entity is not actually able to play the role-playing games, but the respective natural person who wants to play the game and accepts the terms of use for this purpose.
2. Copyright omission claims
Copyright injunctive relief claims in connection with the reproduction of the client software of the online gaming platform also do not exist according to § 97 paragraph 1 sentence 1 UrhG.
The Terms of Use of the online gaming platforms stipulate that the client software may only be reproduced for private, non-commercial purposes. However, the respective game client software is not reproduced by the mmonster.co, as the company does not take part in the game process, but only acts as a mediator of assistance and support.
Furthermore, the use of the online services by the respective service players does not con-stitute a copyright infringement, as the original virtual game is displayed on the player's screen.
Therefore, no unauthorised acts of reproduction take place that violate the intellectual prop-erty rights of the online gaming platforms.
3. Damage claims
In addition, there are no claims for damages regarding copyright law, property law or contract law, as there are no corresponding claims for injunctive relief.
There are no claims for damages due to copyright infringements in connection with the client software or in relation to the use of the online services. There are also no contractual claims for damages, as there are no contractual relationships between the mmonster.co and the game manufacturers/publishers as well as the online game platforms.
IV. Result of the legal assessment of the business model
Therefore, there are no legal concerns regarding the business model of the mmonster.co, as neither the terms of use of the online gaming platforms nor the end user license agreement of the respective game manufacturers/publishers are affected due to a lack of contractual relationships. The mmonster.co explicitly does not participate in the gaming process and therefore has no connection to the license agreements of the game manufac-turers or terms of use of the online gaming platforms. As an intermediary, the mmonster.co is also to be considered neutral and does not interfere with the concept of the respec-tive games. The mmonster.co also does not commit any acts of copyright infringement.