TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, is surveying UK games developers on the issues surrounding copyright and their attitudes to it.

The 15-question survey asks game developers and digital publishers to indicate whether or not they have suffered from problems including 'game cloning'.

The survey also seeks to find the percentage of companies which own their own IP and whether they have taken action to enforce their IP rights.

TIGA has long argued that independent developers should not easily relinquish their IP when negotiating contracts with publishers. It has been an advocate for self-publishing which allows developers to retain their IP and publish their own games on browsers, smartphones and tablets and other platforms and has published a best practice guide to self-publishing.

Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said: “The games industry is changing at a rapid rate but the issue of copyright remains important. In particular, IP ownership can be crucial to building a sustainable games business. I hope that all developers and digital publishers will complete the TIGA survey on copyright issues so that TIGA can represent the industry’s views effectively on this important subject.”

The survey can be found at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1077204/TIGA-Copyright