Pokemon games tend to be an incredibly popular topic of discussion, no matter what, but with the dawn of a new generation, where information and unannounced Pokemon are slowly trickled out over months, or even kept secret until launch, fans were going wild with anticipation. This was especially true for Sword and Shield, which had a very contentious pre-release fervor to them. When images of the strategy guide for Pokemon Sword and Shield appeared on the internet, weeks prior to the games' official release, which was on November 15th, they went viral, as users posted them to every nook and cranny of social media and message board. Nintendo themselves even tried to get many sites to take those pictures down, citing the DMCA, to mild success. But by then, everyone had already saved the images and had distributed them even further across the internet.

To mitigate damage caused by the Defendants' leaks, TPCi submitted hundreds of takedown requests to platforms to remove the leaked images.

The content of the leaked strategy guide, which was slated to release a week after Sword and Shield themselves, on November 22nd, included pictures of Gigantamax Pokemon, the entirety of the Galar region's Pokedex (and all of its cuts, which turned into a dramatic hashtag campaign on Twitter), all of the new Pokemon and their Galarian forms, and more.

The Pokemon Company International believes that this leak of information has caused "irreparable damages", and by sharing stolen trade secrets, they threatened the value of both major Pokemon titles. A lawsuit has been filed with Perkins Coie LLP, where TPCi is looking to seek compensation for "wrongful conduct", and monetary relief for the damages caused by said leaks. The legal document shows posts from anonymous individuals on 4chan and Discord sharing dozens of screenshots from the guidebook, and though TPCi currently does not know who these four John/Jane Does are, they're actively searching to find out who was behind the Discord account providing the screenshots. Currently, TPCi is looking to issue a subpoena to Discord, in order to get more information on the accounts.

TPCi seeks leave to subpoena Discord, 4chan, and the individual who used the [specified] Discord handle, for identifying information associated with the users that posted the leaked images. TPCi will seek identifying information associated with the images, IP address, email address, secondary or recovery email address, records of session times and duration, and any other identifying information.

Source

Tags: [GAME=/game/pok-mon-sword.37382]Pokémon Sword[/GAME] [GAME=/game/pok-mon-shield.115653]Pokémon Shield[/GAME] [COMPANY=/company/the-pokemon-company-international]The Pokémon Company International[/COMPANY]

 

[goldensun87]

The Pokemon Company can suck my dick.

 

[Ev1lbl0w]

Wow, what an aggressive move by their part. The game is already controversial on the Internet, and now this? Ouch...

 

[RHOPKINS13]

Sounds like The Pokemon Company is still butthurt because Sword & Shield had mixed reception, mostly due to them not including all of the pre-existing Pokemon.

Leaking pages from a guide book didn't do any damage compared to leaving pokemon out.

 

[ChibiMofo]

Protect your IP or lose it. They are protecting theirs.
No like it? No buy their products.

 

[VartioArtel]

Protect your IP or lose it. They are protecting theirs.
No like it? No buy their products.

This isn't protecting their IP. It's them striking against their own fans, believing the fans ruined their image more than they did.

How do we know this?

"Irreparable damages".

Irreparable damages refers to something wherein "something cannot be reversed or repaired". But clearly that's not true. There is no way to prove that releasing the images caused harm in any way shape or form. It's them attempting to throw around the most abuseable clause they could in law to attack the fans.

Editted in line: Hell, the fact that they think this DID caused damage by revealing info in advance seems to imply they intentionally shorthanded the games, and they didn't want this info out in advance because they believed (without proof) that it would harm sales.

That you're defending them is atrocious.

 

[diggeloid]

The game probably didn't meet their projections, and they're blaming it on the controversy those leaks started. On the one hand, sure, maybe that's a reason. But on the other, it would mean they were hoping everyone would buy the game before they realized it was subpar.

Fuck them with a rusty crowbar in either case.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Fuck you Poke Co.
Fuck you and your bullshit against the fans.

The leaks didn't hurt the games, your stupidity did, assholes.

 

[templeofhylia]

didn't the game become one of the fastest selling switch games and out-do Let's Go by, i recall, "a lot"? sounds like damage to me for sure...

 

[Mythical]

Almost anybody that would have even seen any of these leaked images would have been people who probably already chose their method of obtaining the game(s) good or bad

 

[Dax_Fame]

"Guys! Guys! People are realizing the cut corners in Sword and Shield!! What can we do?!"
"Hmmmm... let's sue some people!"

 

[Justinde75]

Sue everyone and everything under the sun

 

[jumpman17]

OK, you can't claim irreparable damages while also being the fastest selling Switch game and highest grossing-launch Pokemon game as well.

 

[AmandaRose]

The Pokemon Company can suck my dick.

But someone might take pictures of said dick sucking and leak them on the internet then they will also probably be sued by the Pokémon Company

 

[Subtle Demise]

Protect your IP or lose it. They are protecting theirs.
No like it? No buy their products.

Every time something like this comes up, I have to remind people that that is trademark, and not copyright!! Copyrights exist whether the owners choose to enforce them or not. I wouldn't call leaked information copyrighted content anyway. It's pretty dystopian to allow corporations to control the flow of information.

 

[osaka35]

Good. I hate spoilers. This is what should happen to those who spoil surprises for other people

Though I'm curious. If someone was to get a book through no fault of intention of their own, and are under no obligation or contract to withold the information, CAN they be sued? I mean, what infringement are they suing for? I'm guessing they'd have to go after someone at the company where they had a "no telling" contract? The company which allowed it to happen?

 

[VinsCool]

"Guys! Guys! People are realizing the cut corners in Sword and Shield!! What can we do?!"
"Hmmmm... let's sue some people!"

OK, you can't claim irreparable damages while also being the fastest selling Switch game and highest grossing-launch Pokemon game as well.

"Guys, we fucked up, let's damage control, there won't be any more people hating on us if everyone hates us in the first place!"

 

[Deleted User]

The leaks ruined the launch for me. I was trying hard to avoid them but people kept posting them everywhere.
I hope people will learn from this not to ruin game launches.

 

[DKB]

GameFreak (or whoever the fuck owns it, whatever) needs to sell the IP to someone else. They're done with Pokemon it seems.

 

[Xandrid]

Glad I bought Digimon and not Pokemon