In early April 2013, the Game Designers Association (Spiele-Autoren-Zunft, SAZ) started the petition "Accept game designers as authors and the SAZ as a negotiation partner!" on change.org. The background was the denial of the organization of game publishers (Spieleverlage e.V.; formerly: Fachgruppe Spiel) to acknowledge the status of game designers as originators according to German copyright law.

After only just over three months, an intermediate result of the petition with 4,300 signatures was handed over to the Fachgruppe Spiel. Since then, the position of the organization of game publishers unfortunately has not changed at all, although many companies that are members of the organization actually document the authorship of game designers, acknowledging their work through their license agreements.

Publishers and designers depend on one another and should meet on an equal footing. In this context, the defending of the copyright law and the advocacy of the cultural assets of games can be an additional common interest.

Therefore, the SAZ will continue to advocate the clear and general acknowledgment of game designers as originators, also at a political level, and extend its function as a strong representative of their interests. Concrete proposals for a more precise definition within German copyright law were published in April 2014. The SAZ board thanks all supporters and considers the signature campaign a helpful support and a definite success.