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