ESA Files $1.1M Reimbursement Claim Following Supreme Court Victory

Video game industry representative group the Entertainment Software Association today filed a motion with the United States Supreme Court for reimbursement of attorneys' fees following its recent court victory against the State of California. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the video game industry against a California law that sought to restrict the sale of violent video games to minors on the government level. It was found that the proposed law violated the rights set forth by the First Amendment. The ESA called the victory "a historic and complete win for the First Amendment and the creative freedom of artists and storytellers everywhere." The organisation is now looking to have $1.1 million in attorneys' fees reimbursed by the State of California, arguing, "California persisted in defending a law that Plaintiffs warned the Legislature was unconstitutional before it was passed." It continued that the proposed law "was previously found to be unconstitutional by the district court and a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit, and that it is similar to at least eight other laws invalidated as unconstitutional prior to the time that California sought certiorari in this case." Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, further explained, "From the start of this misguided legislation, then-Governor Schwarzenegger and specific California legislators knew that their efforts to censor and restrict expression were, as court after court ruled, unconstitutional and thus a waste of taxpayers’ money, government time, and state resources." It was revealed last month that the ESA spent $1.1 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2011 on lobbying the federal government on a number of issues.