The amicus brief in Upper Deck v. Milton focuses on whether creative selection/arrangement of game mechanics could be copyrightable.
Ross Dannenberg, Scott M. Kelly, and Kirk A. Sigmon were all signatories on an amicus brief focusing on the question of whether video game mechanics just “methods of operation,” or can the creative selection/arrangement of game mechanics be copyrightable. As the attorneys argue:
If games are entitled to full expressive parity for constitutional purposes under [Brown v. EMA], it is doctrinally incoherent and impermissible to treat them as second-class citizens for copyrightable subject matter. Interactivity does not erase authorship; it simply changes the canvas.
The case is currently before the Ninth Circuit as The Upper Deck Co. v. Milton, No. 25-7299 (9th Cir).