Gotta Hush 'em All

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haflore

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Owners of popular Pokemon fansites such as Serebii.net, Bulbagarden and Pokeranch opened their email inboxes this weekend to find a "Cease and Desist" letter from Nintendo's legal department.

We have not confirmed the legitimacy of this letter through Nintendo, but several of the Pokemon sites have contacted the offices to confirm.

The issue seems to reside in the use of screenshots of Pokemon Black and White, two games that have just shipped in Japan. Fansites have generally had free reign with "fair use" content of Pokemon media (including in-game screenshots), and while Nintendo and the Pokemon Company have been restrictive and protective of the Pokemon license by unlicensed third parties, this Cease and Desist takes it to a new level.

It's possible that this cease and desist is Nintendo of America stepping up its efforts to dissuade the downloading of the Pokemon Black and White ROM file, which can be played through emulators and have its content recorded for screens and video.

We will update this story with comments from Nintendo of America as we receive them. The following is the full letter with names removed:

"Dear Sir or Madam:

We are legal counsel to Nintendo of America Inc. (referred to here, with its parent and affiliated companies, as "Nintendo"). As you are no doubt well aware, Nintendo is one of the world's leading developers and distributors of video game products. The Pokemon franchise is one of Nintendo's most popular game series, and the upcoming release of the Pokemon Black and Pokemon White video games has garnered significant media attention. The intellectual property associated with the games, including the copyright in the underlying software code, visual depictions of the games, and characters found within the games, is the subject of copyright protection in the United States and abroad.

We recently learned that you have posted screenshots and other protected content from the Pokemon Black and Pokemon White games to your website at [removed]. While Nintendo appreciates your interest in and support of the Pokemon game series, your publication of this content infringes Nintendo's copyrights in violation of federal law. Your activity also and has the potential to cause substantial damage to Nintendo, and leaves Nintendo with no choice but to take steps to protect its intellectual property rights.

We have accordingly submitted a copyright infringement notice to your domain registrar under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and anticipate that your website will be taken down shortly. We encourage you to immediately remove from your website all graphics, screenshots, and other protected content taken from the Pokemon Black and Pokemon White games. Going forward, you must also refrain from posting any screenshots, videos, or other content that infringes Nintendo's rights in the Pokemon series or any other game.

Your full and immediate compliance with the foregoing should render further action on Nintendo's part unnecessary. It is essential that we receive your written response confirming that you have taken these necessary actions by Sunday, September 19, 12:00 p.m. PDT, however, or Nintendo will have no choice but to consider its alternative legal remedies."

[/p]
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Source.


Once again, please let me know if this (fake?)letter has already been reported elsewhere.
 

prowler

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I want a letter
I6OHz.png


>Your activity also and has the potential to cause substantial damage to Nintendo
IMAGES DO WHAT NOW
 

_Chaz_

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I read the first paragraph of the letter and it really sounds fake. Not like something Nintendo would write. Sounded much too "braggy" for Nintendo.
 

Sterling

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This is total bullshit. The people who download games are gonna download them, and the people who buy will buy the game. The people who download them don't need any help, because it's Pokemon... Right?
 

Windaga

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QUOTE said:
Owners of popular Pokemon fansites such as Serebii.net, Bulbagarden and Pokeranch opened their email inboxes this weekend to find a "Cease and Desist" letter from Nintendo's legal department.

QUOTE said:
As of the latest edit to this story, Bulbagarden is still yet to receive any one of these infringement notices. We have not been able to confirm if any sites other than PokéBeach and Serebii have also received notices.
Source

?

I don't see why Bulbagarden would get one regardless- they have very few in game images up, almost no sprites, and really only official press art.

Edit
@PeregrinFig
- Look underneath it.

QUOTE
In The Games Department

Black & White - Massive Notice

I have just received notification from Nintendo regarding the Pokémon Black & White games. They have requested that I no longer post images about the games claiming they violate intellectual property. As such, for the time being I have had to remove all images related to the games. Our section will still be massively indepth and I'll continue to cover the games where possible and provide an alternative to the images as and when we can.
In The Games Department
 

MelodieOctavia

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And besides it being fake, This isn't how a C&D letter works. The context they used was the equivalent of telling a bank robber to freeze, and then shooting him anyway.
 

Terminator02

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QUOTE said:
Following further information posted in the discussion thread for this story on the Bulbagarden forums by WaterPokémonMaster, we are now confident in stating that this is not a hoax of any kind, and that these notices are legitimate. Both WaterPokémonMaster and Joe have since contacted the lawyer directly by phone. WaterPokémonMaster has made it clear in his statement on our forums that he does not wish to discuss the content of these discussions. The exact reasons for these notices having been sent to these sites are as of yet still not fully understood by Bulbagarden.

As of the latest edit to this story, Bulbagarden is still yet to receive any one of these infringement notices. We have not been able to confirm if any sites other than PokéBeach and Serebii have also received notices.
Source (Bulbanews)
 

Zetta_x

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You have got to be shitting me.

This is why pirating shouldn't be frowned upon. We have officially gave Nintendo so much power that, at will, can tell people to cease or decease.

The world is messed up. Everyone is so damn greedy and anal about everything.
 

GeekyGuy

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Eh...Nintendo has openly encouraged fan sites, but hey, they're fickle, so who knows. Would hate to see Serebii go offline, so let's hope this is a prank of some...bizarre sort.
 

Zetta_x

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It's too bad we can't tell Nintendo to cease (sending out legal notices) or decease. I mean if I drove by a freeway that had a billboard talking about Flashcarts and where I can get them, I would probably research and buy one. What keeps people making these billboards?

Free Nintendo Games?!?!?!
Buy _____
$25
 

CrimzonEyed

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Nintendo and GameFreaks are probably mad as hell now as pokemon B/W allready is working on flashcarts.
And they have all rights to be mad, they want money for their hard work.
Think if you worked on a game for a year and a half.
It's like we are lowers their wages
tongue.gif
 

Terminator02

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guyessessss y aren't you reading the whole thread (my post) before posting... anywayz,
QUOTE said:
A few commenters have noted that the sites admitted to using ROMs to getting the screens. Whether this alters your opinion or not, it's worth noting for sure. I'm still not sure that getting fan sites closed down is the right way to do it, and Nintendo's strong-arm tactics are wrong. It's also still incredibly silly to demand that screenshots for a game that's already released in one part of the world be taken down.
Source (Destructoid)
 

TM2-Megatron

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Windaga said:
I don't see why Bulbagarden would get one regardless- they have very few in game images up, almost no sprites, and really only official press art.

Well, there's all manner of sprites in Bulbapedia, but Bulbagarden didn't get one of these letters. The action was seemingly brought on on PokeBeach and Serebii's use of unofficial sprite leaks; not taken from the game, but scanned from a magazine that will presumably come out at some point. PokeExperto got a letter as well, since the webmaster there was the one who leaked the sprites (he apparently works for the spanish Nintendo magazine).
 

Terminator02

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TM2-Megatron said:
Windaga said:
I don't see why Bulbagarden would get one regardless- they have very few in game images up, almost no sprites, and really only official press art.

Well, there's all manner of sprites in Bulbapedia, but Bulbagarden didn't get one of these letters. The action was seemingly brought on on PokeBeach and Serebii's use of unofficial sprite leaks; not taken from the game, but scanned from a magazine that will presumably come out at some point. PokeExperto got a letter as well, since the webmaster there was the one who leaked the sprites (he apparently works for the spanish Nintendo magazine).
http://gbatemp.net/t255903-gotta-hush-em-a...t&p=3142440
 
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