[Air-L] Video Game Research - Fair Use?

[Benjamin Turpin]

Hello all,

 

I'm in the process of planning a research project that will involve
recording how players emotionally and cognitively respond to particular
types of video games. 

 

I'm hoping to allow participants to play a commercially available game for
60-90 minutes in lab conditions. There will be three different games with
ten participants for each game. 

 

I had intended to use my personal copies of these games (purchased on Steam)
for the experiment, but am unsure if this would make me legally vulnerable
without seeking permission of the developers. Does anyone have any knowledge
of whether this type of distribution would be considered 'fair use' of
copyrighted materials?

 

Any advice much appreciated!

 

Ben Turpin

PhD Student, Sociology

University of Essex