Nintendo's updated social media guidelines target modified games, leaks from data mining

[midian182]

WTF?! Nintendo has a well-earned reputation for being one of the most aggressive companies in the world when it comes to protecting what it considers copyrighted material. Now, the gaming giant has updated its content guidelines to specify that it will issue DMCA takedowns for material, including videos on social media, featuring modified games, emulators, and anything extracted from data mining.

Nintendo's Game Content Guidelines for Online Video & Image Sharing Platforms, which have been updated for the first time since 2018, now include a section that states it will target: "[Content that] features unauthorized game consoles and/or software not licensed by Nintendo or features video, images, sound sources, etc., that cannot be used in regular gameplay, extracted through game software via data mining or other methods."

The update means Nintendo could issue DMCA takedowns to videos and other content featuring patched/modified games and emulators. It could also go after online and social media posts that reveal content discovered from data mining, which is something we see regularly. These sorts of discoveries often relate to new characters that are coming to games.

GamesIndustry.biz notes that Nintendo could even target the online promotion of retro-themed consoles from companies such as Analogue, Polymega, and Hyperkin.

"It's a me, the lawyer"

The news comes just after Nintendo released heavily criticized new guidelines for community tournaments that feature its games. They include having no more than 200 participants for in-person events or 300 for online tournaments, not allowing any sponsors, disallowing modded games, and the money raised from spectator tickets and entry fees not exceeding the costs of organizing the tournament and raising prize money. Furthermore, sales of food, drink, and merchandise at venues with spectators are prohibited.

Nintendo's famously litigious nature led it to ask Valve to prevent the Dolphin emulator from being released on Steam earlier this year, citing DMCA as justification.

Some of the company's other legal actions include, among other things, suing ROM site owners, killing a Super Mario 64 PC port, sending a DMCA takedown for game creation tool 'Pokemon Essentials,' and suing TikTok/Twitch star Pokeprincxss. Let's not forget how it wanted to send a message with the lengthy sentence of hacker Gary Bower, who was released early from prison.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100633-nintendo-updated-social-media-guidelines-target-modified-games.html

 

[yRaz]

So let me get this straight, Nintendo is trying to issue a copyright take down on things that it doesn't have a copyright on. Modified content has been protected for decades

 

[m4a4]

I wonder how legal this actually is in NA. I don't actually think anyone has tested if stuff like this would hold up in court...

And at this point, I would love to see Nintendo get it's *** handed to it in court.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

So let me get this straight, Nintendo is trying to issue a copyright take down on things that it doesn't have a copyright on. Modified content has been protected for decades

I could see analoge or hyperkin going after them for DMCA takedowns. Maybe some bigger channels that do emulator reviews or such.

 

[mgilbert]

There are three companies I will not support with my business - Nintendo, Nvidia, and Apple. Ethics matter, people. QUIT Supporting these unethical companies that don't appreciate you as a customer!!! They don't deserve your hard earned money!

 

[gamerk2]

I wonder how legal this actually is in NA. I don't actually think anyone has tested if stuff like this would hold up in court...

And at this point, I would love to see Nintendo get it's *** handed to it in court.

No one wants to test past rulings on *this* court in particular, or even in general. The status quo is quite acceptable, and no one wants to risk a reverse.

Formats like .ips were designed specifically to avoid modifying ROMs directly; they're just a byte difference that gets automatically applied by emulators. As such, *in theory*, you avoid unlicensed modification of ROM images. [Nevermind most people patch the ROMs directly, it's the legal theory that counts here.] No one wants to actually test this though, as a loss would kill the translation/hacking/randomizer communities.

 

[yRaz]

I wonder how legal this actually is in NA. I don't actually think anyone has tested if stuff like this would hold up in court...

And at this point, I would love to see Nintendo get it's *** handed to it in court.

It has been tested in court in the form of sampling music and playing clips from movies/TV shows for the purpose of review. These things are protected under free speech and has a basis in journalism.

I could see analoge or hyperkin going after them for DMCA takedowns. Maybe some bigger channels that do emulator reviews or such.

Under the DCMA you are legally allowed to make a digital copy of anything piece of physical media that you own. Because of this, simply running something in an emulator is not evidence of a crime. The burden of proof is on Nintendo to prove that the person running said media in the emulator has obtained it illegally.

 

[yRaz]

No one wants to test past rulings on *this* court in particular, or even in general. The status quo is quite acceptable, and no one wants to risk a reverse.

Formats like .ips were designed specifically to avoid modifying ROMs directly; they're just a byte difference that gets automatically applied by emulators. As such, *in theory*, you avoid unlicensed modification of ROM images. [Nevermind most people patch the ROMs directly, it's the legal theory that counts here.] No one wants to actually test this though, as a loss would kill the translation/hacking/randomizer communities.

well, again, you could modify the game in system memory without ever actually modifying the saved ROM. So, just because the game is modified does not mean the ROM is modified.

 

[gamerk2]

well, again, you could modify the game in system memory without ever actually modifying the saved ROM. So, just because the game is modified does not mean the ROM is modified.

That's the legal theory behind IPS auto-patching by emulators. Of course, this has it's own limitations (one IPS per-ROM) that you would ideally like to get around by pre-patching ROMs, which is a bigger legal question.

 

[yRaz]

That's the legal theory behind IPS auto-patching by emulators. Of course, this has it's own limitations (one IPS per-ROM) that you would ideally like to get around by pre-patching ROMs, which is a bigger legal question.

It would be trivial to make a program that repeatedly modifies the game in memory the exact same way everytime it's booted into an emulator. I don't know if anyone remembers "trainers" from the 2000s but that was how they worked.

 

[dangh]

There are three companies I will not support with my business - Nintendo, Nvidia, and Apple. Ethics matter, people. QUIT Supporting these unethical companies that don't appreciate you as a customer!!! They don't deserve your hard earned money!

Agree, but ill add facebook, microsoft, intel, google (but this one have monopoly on basic internet interaction so impossible to avoid).
Mega corporations have way too much influence on so many levels they do shady business to ensure monopoly or duopoly position and leave only plankton companies around to pretend there is a choice.

 

[mgilbert]

Agree, but ill add facebook, microsoft, intel, google (but this one have monopoly on basic internet interaction so impossible to avoid).
Mega corporations have way too much influence on so many levels they do shady business to ensure monopoly or duopoly position and leave only plankton companies around to pretend there is a choice.

I don't do antisocial media of any type, including Facebook, so I agree with you on that one. I also agree that all big corporations are greedy at heart - well, they don't have hearts - but Nintendo, Nvidia, and Apple are in a league of their own. They hate and distrust the very people who made them successful, and condescend to that at every turn.