Digital Copies as Single Works

The digital nature of video games forces us to look at copies of the same game as a single work. Whether it exists as 3 million copies or as only 3, any given version of a game is one work. Different versions are therefore separate works. The collection of copies of, say, version 0.1, hidden somewhere in the programming department, are themselves a single work. (I should also note that, while any version of a game can be considered a work in its own right, it cannot be considered an artwork because it was not intended to be presented. The "intent to present" of a given work is necessary to its qualifying as art.) Because digital works are composed of specific, discrete elements (i.e., binary code), all successful^* copies of a digital work will be exact copies. The version history of a digital work allows us to review how that work has changed. This legacy, if followed chronologically, can be thought to show the evolution of a work from its beginnings to its conclusion. That conclusion often being a presented (and for the creator, presentable) work of art.

* Sometimes, during the copying process, a file becomes corrupted or otherwise imperfect. It would be inappropriate to think of such results as artworks, as they are not what the creator made and wanted to present.