For Nintendo, it pays off once again to focus so much on taking action against anyone who violates their rights. Nintendo has sued a site for damages that offers pirated copies of Nintendo games and did not respond to requests to block this content. Nintendo struck back and was awarded over €400,000 in damages. Nintendo says this is a major victory for them and for the entire video game industry. The sites can no longer refer to previous cases and remain inactive.
Who did they sue?
- Nintendo has sued the operators of the site “Dstorage”.
- In a statement, they say: The appeals court decided that the site is responsible for allowing pirated copies of Nintendo games to be distributed via file hosts like 1fichier.com.
- As a penalty, it was ordered that Nintendo must be paid $442,750 – in addition, the site must cover €25,000 in court costs. For €442,750, you could buy about 7,385 copies of “Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe”, which is the best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch.
Court awards Nintendo €442,750
Here’s how the process went: Nintendo had requested the site to remove the unauthorized games from their site. When that did not happen, Nintendo went to court and won in Paris in May 2021.
Now in April 2023, the ruling of the lower instance was upheld by an appeals court (via gamesindustry.biz).
Sites must respond to requests to delete content – Cannot wait for a court to intervene
This is what Nintendo says: Nintendo states they are satisfied with the decision. The ruling sends a clear signal: Such websites must withdraw and block access to pirated video games through file hosts.
If they refuse, even when notified of the violations, it is now clarified that such sites can also be held liable for copyright infringements.
This is not just a victory for Nintendo but for the entire gaming industry. Now, share hosts like 1fichier can no longer refer to previous rulings that a court is needed before pirated copies are taken down.
Nintendo’s behavior in fighting for their rights sounds like a success against injustice – from the perspective of others, however, the cases are not always as clear-cut as here:
