Minors in esports
Many talents are minors. Contracts with them are provisionally invalid without the consent of those with parental responsibility, and youth employment protection limits training and competition hours.
Young talent needs particular protection, and organisations need structures that hold. The two are not in conflict. They simply have to be settled before the signing rather than after it.
What to settle before signing
- Agreement of those with parental responsibility, in writing and before the contract starts
- Whether approval by the family court comes into consideration
- Classification of the cooperation: employment or self-employment
- Training and competition hours measured against youth employment protection
- School commitments and their priority in scheduling
- Data protection consent, separate from contractual agreement
- Rights in recordings, streams and performance data
- Age ratings of the titles played and youth media protection
Where youth employment law becomes concrete
The German Youth Employment Protection Act distinguishes two groups. A child is someone under fifteen or still subject to full-time schooling. A young person is someone aged fifteen but under eighteen.
For children employment is prohibited in principle. Exceptions are narrow and require official authorisation. Whether and how an esports competition fits into those exceptions is not settled and has to be agreed with the competent authority in the individual case.
For young people the limits are eight hours a day and forty hours a week, plus the night rest and the five-day week. Tournament schedules across time zones fail on exactly these limits, and the consent of those with parental responsibility changes nothing. Youth employment protection is not at the parties’ disposal.
Prize money and assets
Prize money belongs to the player, not to the organisation and not to those with parental responsibility, who merely administer it. Anyone settling prize money through the organisation needs an express provision in the contract, and that provision is measured against the same standards as the rest of the contract. The same applies to deductions, commission and set-off against equipment or travel costs.
How we support you
We draft contracts that reflect the particularities, settle the classification of the cooperation and check training plans against youth employment protection. For streams and recordings we develop the consents that actually hold.
Signing a young talent?
We settle the agreement before the season starts.
Get in touchFrequently asked questions
Is a contract with a minor valid?
Only with the agreement of those with parental responsibility. Without it the contract is provisionally invalid until agreement is given or refused. For longer-running contracts, approval by the family court may also come into consideration. Anyone who does not settle this has no contract when it matters.
Do training hours count as working time?
Once there is an employment relationship, youth employment protection applies with limits on daily and weekly hours, rest periods and night work. International tournaments in other time zones regularly collide with this. The structure of the cooperation therefore belongs before the scheduling.
Who is entitled to prize money?
The player, even where they are a minor. The money forms part of their assets and is administered by those with parental responsibility until they come of age. A minor may freely dispose only of funds that have been left to them for that purpose. An organisation that retains prize money or routes it to an account of its own needs a sound contractual basis for doing so and the consent of those with parental responsibility.
May minors compete in titles rated 16 or 18?
The age rating addresses whoever supplies or makes a game accessible, not the person playing. An organiser who makes a title above their age group accessible to minors therefore carries the risk, including in online tournaments. On top of that come the rules of leagues and associations, which often set age limits of their own. Both belong before the entry, not on the day of the tournament.
Who gives consent under data protection law?
For information society services a separate age threshold applies, below which the consent of those with parental responsibility is needed. For streams, recordings and performance data, image rights have to be considered as well. Both are handled separately from contractual agreement.