The video game industry is unique. Where other areas of entertainment, such as film or music, have developed an oligarchy of Big Companies to control most of the flow, there hasn't been enough time for power to centralize in gaming. Sure, there's Valve and Blizzard and other big names, but compare this to the RIAA or MPAA.
The law has been sculpted by those in power for those other arenas. He who holds the first copyright on a property holds complete control over its development. I can't go do a mix of Lady Gaga without her permission except under specific circumstances.
IPs are protected in gaming, too. As much as I'd like to, I can't go make a game about Mario fighting Master Chief for control of Aperture Science. But those names aren't the core part of the game. I can go make a game in which I use a gun to shoot portals and solve puzzles. Characters are pretty cool, but unlike in movies they're just the set dressing to the meat of the game.
It would be enforce to oversee any copyright law that attempted to restrict these things. That would be like outlawing films which use Pulp Fiction-esque narrative jumps, or songs with accordions. But where in film and music these are just tools. In games, mechanics are the skeleton around which everything revolves.
We live in a world where the best games are not those which come first, but those that are done best. We don't care if there was some shitty platformer before Mario, because Mario was just so damn fun. And even if Nintendo refuses to allow any games starring Mario, we don't care because we can play Spyro or whatever the kids are doing these days.
I guess I don't really have a point here, except to marvel at how this system works for the consumer instead of for the big companies. And as a result, any independent developer gets a shot at making his mark without needing to slog through any pre-existing frameworks.
What a wonderful world.
