The Legal Troubles Of Pokémon Go
Michael Babboni
Premises Liability
Even if you have never played the game, just about everyone knows about the existence of the new Pokémon Go app. This app has encouraged many conflicting opinions from those praising its encouragement of exercise to those condemning its popularity.What Is Pokémon Go?
While this game has certainly grown in popularity, not everyone knows what this new app is and why it has taken the world by storm. Before Pokémon Go, there was a game for the Gameboy platform known simply as Pokémon. In the Pokémon world, a trainer leaves home in search of monsters, known as Pokémon, to capture and train them in order to battle against other players. This franchise quickly grew in popularity and continues to create additional games as well as a well-known children’s TV show.
As smartphone technology grew, the idea for a Pokémon mobile app that allowed individuals everywhere to catch these virtual monsters and battle other players by traveling around in the real world using GPS signals.
Pubic Property Liability And Distracted Players
While Pokémon Go has been shown to have several benefits, there is a downside that also needs to be addressed too. Even for those that stick to playing in public locations, Pokémon Go can increase a player’s risk of injury. With the popularity of smartphones in general, many individuals find themselves greatly distracted by their phone and put themselves in a dangerous position. Add an addicting app to the mix and you create an even more powerful distraction.
If the increase in injuries wasn’t bad enough, this also causes many to question the liability of public places when these injuries occur on their property.
Are Pokémon Go developers liable for injuries?
Already knowing the wide spread popularity of this game franchise, it was only going to be a matter of time before a player would be harmed while using their app. In anticipation of potential injury and other kinds of lawsuits, the developer had written into their terms of service agreement protection in order to protect themselves against liability. Unfortunately, the majority of users do not read these agreements before downloading which waives all legal ability to sue the developers for compensation.
Additionally, the Pokémon Go developers have several warnings to pay attention to your surroundings, not trespass, and avoid driving while playing that display on the screen. These efforts to further warn their players allows the liability to switch over to the players that neglect the warnings rather than the developers.
Trespassing To Catch Them All
With millions of players searching for nearby Pokémon to catch and gyms to battle, it has also unfortunately encouraged some to trespass private property in order to do so. Areas of the game known as ‘Poke stops’ or ‘Gyms’ are only found in specific locations and allow the player to battle virtual gyms or obtain free items for the game. Due to the value of these locations within the game, they greatly encourage players to visit those areas daily. If that location happens to be on your private property, you are likely to find a lot of unwanted trespassers on your lawn.
Are Pokémon Go developers liable for trespassing violations?
While the contract is able to protect the developers from personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, it does not protect them from law suits initiated by property owners who have unwillingly become a Pokémon Go location. Unlike for player injuries, property owners did not and could not consent to their property becoming a Pokémon Go location or to the increase of trespassers on their property. Additionally, players that are injured on private property may even attempt to file a lawsuit against the private property owner despite their own trespassing.
If your private property has become an unwilling Pokémon Go location, you can go to the Pokémon Go support page to request its immediate removal using the following steps:
1. Go to the Pokémon Go support page (you may need to use a Google account to sign in with)
2. Go to ‘Gameplay questions’ and click on ‘Report an issue with a Gym or Poke stop’
3. Select ‘Request removal of a Poke stop or Gym’
4. Fill out the form with as much detail as you can and hit ‘submit’
Still, this removal option does allow you to fix the problem, it does not take away their liability for turning your private property into a Pokémon Go location to begin with. However, this can prevent further damage and trespassing while you wait for legal action to be taken.