As someone who is "Pro-Copyright" (Though not a lawyer), let me actually go through and pick apart where Nintendo is "right" and wrong on the matter:
>For over 20 years, Nintendo has undertaken an aggressive worldwide campaign to stop the production and distribution of pirated video game products.
To begin with, it needs to be stressed that
not all piracy is "equal", but that doesn't stop companies like Nintendo from conflating them. In the context above, the type of piracy they're referring to is "bootlegging":
<to produce or sell illegally or without permission ((C)1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All rights reserved)
There an entire wiki dedicated to archiving these types of games:
https://bootleggames.fandom.com
But this is not just restricted to vidya. In fact, the first edition of
The Lord of the Rings to be released in the was a bootlegged copy. This type of piracy is "wrong", instead of "morally questionable", because it displays the fact that people are very willing to pay real money for a product. It's reasons like this which are why West Taiwan is much despised.
However like I said, this is not the "same" type of piracy as we currently experience today with the internet, where you can dump/rip a game, upload the data to a file sharing websites, and people can then download it for their own pleasure.
THIS' kind of piracy can be referred to as "morally questionable" because the actual "impact" it has is very disputed even among official studies. It still poses the same problems as "traditional" piracy (bootlegging) on the one hand, where people are receiving the product without the publisher/creator receiving any compensation. However there is the argument that can be made that it's no different than borrowing a copy from a friend, or seeing it distributed on public broadcasting, or even going to the public library. In addition to other arguments about "word of mouth" advertising.
Regardless, the point is that Nintendo is going to spend the rest of the page conflating bootlegging with internet piracy.
>Nintendo has also been active in its efforts to stop the illegal distribution of game copying devices. Since 2008, Nintendo has supported over 600 actions in 16 countries, confiscating over a half million DS game copiers.
I'm an American, so I'm using U.S. law as my frame of reference. There's nothing illegal about creating a copy of your video games. Where things start becoming "illegal" is when you then distribute that copy to someone else, or you retain that copy while giving the original to someone else.
As long as you own the game, you can do whatever you want to it.
I say that, but it's technically not true. With the way copyright law works, there's actually a provision in it that declares that modifying something is actually "violating" copyright. This can be anything from underlining a passage in a book with a pencil to a total conversion mod of a video game. Yes, it's bullshit, everyone knows that provision is bullshit, and it's one of the many things that does need to be reformed about copyright. However that doesn't detract from the fact that the law is there, and it has been used. Most recent case was when the cheat group AimJunkies was successfully sued by Bungie for violating their copyright of Destiny 2 by "altering" the player experience through their cheat mods.
>intellectual property laws
It should be worth noting that "IP law" does not actually exist, it's just a short-hand method to refer to the trifecta of copyright, trademarks, and patents. Each of these is a different category that protects different things, and has different rules in how they can be used and enforced. Do not mix them up.
>You are not entitled to use any of this Nintendo property without our specific permission.
Technically not true because of Fair Use.
>If you are uncertain about whether your planned activities require Nintendo's consent you should obtain your own legal advice. Nintendo does not give legal advice, please act with care.
Anyone else find this funny, or just me?
>These include copyright, trademarks, and patents, designs and circuit layouts.
"Designs" and "circuit layouts" fall under the former three, they're
NOT their own special category.
>Copyright arises automatically in Australia. It does not need to be registered.
It should also be mentioned that copyright extends to fanworks. Meaning if you create a drawing, fanfiction, or game using Nintendo characters, they automatically own that.
>A patent is a grant of the exclusive right in an invention for a period of time.
And a patent can be dismissed as "frivolous" if filed after another entity already produces a product using said "invention" (Yeah, they're not going to win that lawsuit against
Palworld).
>Game copiers are products which connect to a computer and enable users to illegally copy video game software onto any type of memory cartridge, disk or directly to the hard drive of a personal computer.
There is
NOTHING illegal about copying your own video games.
>There are a number of different game copiers including R4DS, R4DS Revolution SDHC, M3DS, DS Linker, Supercard DS One, Cyclo DS Evolution, DSTT, N5, EZ , EZ Flash , Edge Card, and AceKard,
And that's just flat-out wrong. The are flash cards, used for the purposes of running your own software on the system. Yes, they can by used for piracy. No, that does not automatically make them illegal.
>Are game copying devices illegal?
>Yes.
Wrong.
>The manufacturing, importing or distributing of circumvention devices is prohibited under the Copyright Act
Any Aussie want to link what the fuck they're talking about?
>Modchips circumvent the security which is embedded in Nintendo's products. Like many other countries Australia has a law which allows copyright owners to take action against manufacturers and sellers of devices (such as modchips) which circumvent security systems. Installing a modchip in a Nintendo product will void the consumer warranty for that product. Providing a circumvention service (by installing modchips) is also illegal.
Like I said, this is "technically" true, but good luck actually enforcing it. Also, modifying your devices doesn't void your warranty, as long as you don't break anything in the process.
>If the product is offered well below normal retail pricing, it could be a counterfeit.
Or just on sale, or the currency is hyper-inflated bullshit.
>Look closely at the packaging. If the artwork is of poor quality, faded, discoloured or distorted, the product is likely to be a counterfeit.
Or just not maintained very well.
>Always ask if the product is new. Beware of "refurbished" products as they are often counterfeits.
And that's scare-tactic bullshit.
>A Nintendo emulator allows for Nintendo console based or arcade games to be played on unauthorized hardware. The video games are obtained by downloading illegally copied software, i.e. Nintendo ROMs, from Internet distributors.
And that's bullshit. You can rip the games yourself and run them through an emulator. That's what I do with my fifth gen games and earlier.
>It is illegal to download a Nintendo ROM from the internet whether or not you own an authentic copy of that game.
Yes, it is illegal. But I don't care.
>Although Australian copyright law now allows limited 'format shifting' of certain copyright material for private and domestic use, this right does not allow the copying of video games to a different format.
Yes, it does.
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>Also, the limited right which the Copyright Act gives to make backup copies of computer programs does not apply to Nintendo video games.
Yes, it does.
>The problem is that it's illegal. Copyrights and trademarks of games are corporate assets. If these vintage titles are available far and wide, it undermines the value of this intellectual property and adversely affects the right owner.
Does anyone have that webm showing that Nintendo was using "illegal" iNes rips of their games for the Wii Virtual Console?
>In addition, the assumption that the games involved are vintage or nostalgia games is incorrect. Nintendo is famous for bringing back to life its popular characters for its newer systems, for example, Mario and Donkey Kong have enjoyed their adventures on all Nintendo platforms, going from coin-op machines to our latest hardware platforms.
Okay, when are you making another F-Zero? Or Eternal Darkness? Or Custom Robo? Or Captain Rainbow? Or Excitebike? And the list just goes on and on.
>As a copyright owner, and creator of such famous characters, only Nintendo has the right to benefit from such valuable assets.
They may want to rephrase that as it could be taken as implying even the customers cannot "benefit" from buying Nintendo games.
>No, the current availability of a game in stores is irrelevant as to its copyright status. Copyrights do not enter the public domain just because they are no longer commercially exploited or widely available. Therefore, the copyrights of games are valid even if the games are not found on store shelves, and using, copying and/or distributing those games violates Nintendo's intellectual property rights.
That is true.
>In Australia, copyright lasts for at least 70 years, and sometimes longer. Because video games have only been developed in the last three decades, the copyright of all video games will not expire for many decades to come.
Unless the game has been released into the public domain by their copyright holder.
>Consumers should be cautious when purchasing Nintendo products via online auctions through online retailers or at markets.
Oh, fuck off.
>Carefully consider whether to purchase from websites offering large quantities of Nintendo products at low prices.
Why? I don't think people are really lining up to buy all those boxed copies of Personal Trainer: Cooking .
>If the product is offered well below normal retail pricing, it could be a counterfeit product.
Or it just didn't sell well. Unless you're implying that Other M was a "counterfeit" Metroid game.
>Nintendo does not sell games in multi-game cartridges or in association with game copiers. A product offering multiple Nintendo games will almost certainly be counterfeit.
So Super Mario All-Stars is not a "real" Nintendo game. Neither is the GC promotional disc with the Zelda games. Nor Kirby's Dream Collection.
You heard it here, folks, don't have any hesitation to pirate "official" Nintendo games that came with more than one game, as their own lawyers swear that these are not "real" Nintendo games. they're bootlegs.
>or in association with game copiers
Again, iNes headers were found on Virtual Console games.
>Look closely at the ink found on game discs, cartridges and packaging. Is there blurred printing on the game label? Is the colour faded, discoloured or does the ink appear to be low quality?
>Look closely at the Nintendo Seal of Quality trademark placed on the packaging and/or the game disc or cartridge. Is it missing or does the ink appear to be of poor quality?
It could just be the age and time it was made.
>Counterfeiters may ship the game disc or cartridge separate from the packaging or instruction manuals.
They are unironically trying to argue that "loose" games are now fakes. So all those GBA games I see on sale at the local game store are now not "real" GBA games. They're bootlegs, which rounds back to my argument up above.
>Use caution when purchasing used games. Make sure the product is not counterfeit, using the same tips outlined above.
Except you basically outline above that only "Complete in box" brand-spanking-new games are the ONLY official Nintendo games to ever exist. And that everything else is a "fake". In fact it could be stretched to mean that EVERY Nintendo game is a fake UNLESS the game is still in it's or