It looks like Nintendo is going after fan games again. Earlier this year, Nintendo sent cease and desist letters to two fan games that used Nintendo properties; Pokemon Uranium and AM2R. But it looks like NOA isn't quite done shutting down fan projects this year, as renown romhacker "Coolboyman" has received a C&D for all of his romhacks. Not only has his completed but unreleased hack called Pokemon Prism been targeted, but Rijon Adventures and Brown must also be taken down to avoid legal pursuit. (Of course the latter two have been distributed over the internet many times, so it's pretty much a nonissue.) Last week also saw Konami issue a C&D to a Castlevania 1 remake in Unreal Engine. It's a sad, harsh lesson to everyone that those who wish to create fan projects should not generate hype, but instead quietly release their works and then promote them after the fact. Pokemon Prism was the result of 8 years of Coolboyman's work, and will now likely not see a release.

SOURCE

 

[Townsperson]

Then just take the trailer down, everything'll be fiiiine
It's like playing peekaboo.
Nintendo: *sees trailer* Mrgrgr! There it is!
Rom Hacker: *takes trailer down*
Nintendo: Where'd it go?? Was it a mirage the whole time?

That's not the point. I'm sure Nintendo is well aware of the entire rom hack community that Pokémon has. Those hacks all tend to stay out of the spotlight, and are left alone for that reason. Prism, on the other hand, decided to make a big deal out of things, build everything up in glorious fashion, and make sure everyone knew that it existed. When you're using someone else's property for something, don't make a show of it. If Prism had kept to a rom hacking forum, it probably wouldn't have been taken down.

 

[HaloEffect17]

That's not the point. I'm sure Nintendo is well aware of the entire rom hack community that Pokémon has. Those hacks all tend to stay out of the spotlight, and are left alone for that reason. Prism, on the other hand, decided to make a big deal out of things, build everything up in glorious fashion, and make sure everyone knew that it existed. When you're using someone else's property for something, don't make a show of it. If Prism had kept to a rom hacking forum, it probably wouldn't have been taken down.

Obviously, the creator still hasn't learned his lesson by publicly declaring his C&D papers immediately after he was notified. He would have had some options, but now, he totally exhausted all of them.

 

[Mr.ButtButt]

That's not the point. I'm sure Nintendo is well aware of the entire rom hack community that Pokémon has. Those hacks all tend to stay out of the spotlight, and are left alone for that reason. Prism, on the other hand, decided to make a big deal out of things, build everything up in glorious fashion, and make sure everyone knew that it existed. When you're using someone else's property for something, don't make a show of it. If Prism had kept to a rom hacking forum, it probably wouldn't have been taken down.

Still sucks ://
looked like it had so much potential.. And to think the devs would've learned by now. Third times the charm, I guess..

 

[FAST6191]

I thought since it's just a IPS patch it couldn't be targeted by legal teams due to the fact that they're not distributing any Pokemon assets, or am I wrong here.

There is the option to go after derived works, though that gets legally tricky.

I read the notice though and the wording they use makes use of trademark law far more heavily and as the site used artwork, names and words like official in the title/pages/name/whatever it could be said to risk confusion among the target audience (which does include parents buying it for their kids). As you have to defend your trademarks or risk losing them (you are fairly free to ignore copyright infringement but trademarks are a whole other matter) their hand was possibly even forced into taking it down.

 

[Townsperson]

There is the option to go after derived works, though that gets legally tricky.

I read the notice though and the wording they use makes use of trademark law far more heavily and as the site used artwork, names and words like official in the title/pages/name/whatever it could be said to risk confusion among the target audience (which does include parents buying it for their kids). As you have to defend your trademarks or risk losing them (you are fairly free to ignore copyright infringement but trademarks are a whole other matter) their hand was possibly even forced into taking it down.

Pretty much that. Nintendo wouldn't really be obligated to issue a C&D for some rom hack you find on an obscure rom hacking forum. Once you start advertising it (Especially using Nintendo's own property), you're just shooting yourself in the foot, and putting Nintendo in a position where they HAVE to do something about you.

This was just a poorly handled project on the devs behalf. You don't get the freedom to share your project so openly when it's something like this. Rom hacks are best left for enthusiasts and their ilk. If you try to bring it mainstream, you're causing an issue for whoever owns the property that you're using.

 

[Posghetti]

Well..
This is just saddening..

 

[Jayro]

Adam just needs to load it up on cheap USB sticks, and leave them laying around in public.

 

[xtheman]

Adam just needs to load it up on cheap USB sticks, and leave them laying around in public.

It will only risk all that he owns. No big deal

 

[SonicCloud]

View attachment 72656​

It looks like Nintendo is going after fan games again. Earlier this year, Nintendo sent cease and desist letters to two fan games that used Nintendo properties; Pokemon Uranium and AM2R. But it looks like NOA isn't quite done shutting down fan projects this year, as renown romhacker "Coolboyman" has received a C&D for all of his romhacks. Not only has his completed but unreleased hack called Pokemon Prism been targeted, but Rijon Adventures and Brown must also be taken down to avoid legal pursuit. (Of course the latter two have been distributed over the internet many times, so it's pretty much a nonissue.) Last week also saw Konami issue a C&D to a Castlevania 1 remake in Unreal Engine. It's a sad, harsh lesson to everyone that those who wish to create fan projects should not generate hype, but instead quietly release their works and then promote them after the fact. Pokemon Prism was the result of 8 years of Coolboyman's work, and will now likely not see a release.

SOURCE

Omg , i feel sad for this guy...8 years for work and then when the days come closer to release , Nintendo does the biggest dickmove and in the end , the game gets cancelled

Maybe he could release it on a piracy site *quietly*?

 

[Tigran]

I still don't get it..

Creator "I MADE THIS AWESOME GAME WITH EVEN NEW POKEMON!"!

Me "Well... why don't you call it something else to avoid trouble and state that it's a game inspired by Pokemon!"

Creator "NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!"

Note that is -not- a conversation I had.. but still that's the logic behind some of these.

I mean do people think Freedom Planet would have been released like it was if was still just a sonic rom hack? I mean the game is -very- obviously based off of Sonic the hedgehog.. but it's -not- sonic the hedgehog.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Maybe he could release it on a piracy site *quietly*?

You people -really- aren't that smart... are you?

 

[Deleted member 377734]

Omg , i feel sad for this guy...8 years for work and then when the days come closer to release , Nintendo does the biggest dickmove and in the end , the game gets cancelled

Maybe he could release it on a piracy site *quietly*?

said it before , give it to a "friend" have them quietly release it on a torrent site or something , they also ordered him to take down pokemon brown and rijon adventures .

 

[xtheman]

said it before , give it to a "friend" have them quietly release it on a torrent site or something , they also ordered him to take down pokemon brown and rijon adventures .

If it gets leaked at all big N can trace it to him and sue him.

 

[Deleted member 377734]

If it gets leaked at all big N can trace it to him and sue him.

oh well , he could try if he wanted too , I mean , he could say he already gave it to other people before he got their notice . and that they were the ones who leaked it . don't know how well that would work out though , he might not want to take the risk , but then again 8 years is a long time to just let something go .

 

[Tigran]

oh well , he could try if he wanted too , I mean , he could say he already gave it to other people before he got their notice . and that they were the ones who leaked it . don't know how well that would work out though , he might not want to take the risk , but then again 8 years is a long time to just let something go .

Then he should have named it something else and made sure it wasn't full on pokemon graphics in game.

It may have been 8 years of his life, but his utter stupidity in this regard made him lose it. It's his damn fault.

Now.. If he turns around, calls it something else and releases it.. All the more power to him.

 

[Chary]

I can understand thinking he was safe, since Nintendo doesn't actively go against rom hacks. But the publicity on Twitch and Facebook really did him in. A bad move on his part, since Nintendo has been C&D-happy this year.

Even if he leaks it to a friend and says "oh sorry Nintendo it's not my fault", he's was still legally obligated to prevent the file from being shared and would likely face some sort of legal suit.

What he should do is just retitle the hack. If he's put in 8 years of work, I'm sure he can edit all the dialogue to replace instances of Pokemon with something else. Hokeymanz: Prism could probably just skirt him from Nintendo trying to sue.

 

[HaloEffect17]

If it gets leaked at all big N can trace it to him and sue him.

Instead of trace... it's more like assuming that the leak came from him. Nintendo knows he is the primary holder of the fan game, and as such, they can make the assumption that whatever leak was facilitated by him. They know he's read the letter by his Facebook posts.

 

[Coolsonickirby]

Adam just needs to load it up on cheap USB sticks, and leave them laying around in public.

I had the same exact thought today while reading this thread

 

[Clydefrosch]

its nintendos legal department.
you can literally mail them 'information' about some romehack, fangame, even adult themed fanart on tumblr and they will, almost automatically, send one of these.
because thats what they do to protect these copyrights.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

It's like Nintendo waited until the last possible moment to screw everyone over... what a bunch of scums. They knew it was coming December 25th.

View attachment 72660

its like they waited until he really made a lot of noise about the release with a trailer and date and all that jazz.

 

[osaka35]

I can understand thinking he was safe, since Nintendo doesn't actively go against rom hacks. But the publicity on Twitch and Facebook really did him in. A bad move on his part, since Nintendo has been C&D-happy this year.

Even if he leaks it to a friend and says "oh sorry Nintendo it's not my fault", he's was still legally obligated to prevent the file from being shared and would likely face some sort of legal suit.

What he should do is just retitle the hack. If he's put in 8 years of work, I'm sure he can edit all the dialogue to replace instances of Pokemon with something else. Hokeymanz: Prism could probably just skirt him from Nintendo trying to sue.

something someone else can then "patch".

 

[grossaffe]

If you have the talent to make a competent game, why not make it an original IP that you not only don't have to worry about C&Ds, but also sell it and make some money?