Nintendo has won another lawsuit in its never-ending quest against piracy, as a Switch modder decided to represent himself in court.
You might have thought Nintendo’s ruthlessness when it comes to dishing out lawsuits might have deterred anyone from pirating their stuff, but somehow people never seem to learn.
We’ve already seen someone who sold modded Switch consoles being sent to prison in Japan earlier this year, and now another person who sold modified Nintendo hardware online has been ordered to pay $2 million (£1.4 million) in damages.
In a lawsuit filed in July last year, Nintendo accused Ryan Daley of copyright infringement and selling hacked devices like the MIG Switch and MIG Dumper via his Modded Hardware website – despite being issued a cease and desist letter earlier in March 2024.
After initially denying any wrongdoing, Daley has now agreed to pay Nintendo $2 million in damages, as part of a settlement to stop the case from going to court.
Daley, who defended his case against the lawsuit without a lawyer, has also been handed a permanent injunction which prevents him from ‘selling, providing, marketing, advertising, promoting, distributing, or otherwise trafficking in any devices whose purpose is to circumvent any technological protection measures contained within Nintendo video game consoles or video game software’.
In the settlement, filed in Seattle earlier this month, it reads: ‘Defendant’s conduct has caused Nintendo of America significant and irreparable harm. For example, the MIG devices, mod chips, hacked consoles, and circumvention services allow members of the public to create, distribute, and play pirated Nintendo games on a massive scale.
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‘Thus, the MIG devices, mod chips, hacked consoles, and circumvention services harm Nintendo of America’s goodwill, detract from Nintendo of America’s consumer base, and enable widespread illegal and difficult to detect copying.’
Over the past few years, Nintendo’s strong stance against piracy has led to the shutdown of several Switch emulators, including Yuzu, Citra, and Ryujinx. The company has even gone after YouTubers who promoted these kinds of devices on livestreams.
This isn’t the only lawsuit Nintendo has won this week. Genki, an accessory manufacturer that was sued by Nintendo for trademark infringement and false advertising over mocked-up Switch 2 consoles prior to its reveal, has similarly reached a settlement with the company.
As part of court documents, Genki is required to pay an undisclosed amount to Nintendo for damages and is now banned from using any Nintendo logo, design, or ‘anything confusingly similar thereto, in any manner in connection with its business’.
This even extends to any colour schemes which are ‘confusingly or substantially similar’ to Nintendo’s, across its product designs or marketing.
In other words, both court cases ended up exactly as you’d expect, and yet somehow people are still underestimating Nintendo’s lawyers and the company’s hatred for anyone messing with their stuff.
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