22 Sep, 2010
Two well known Pokemon fansites, Serebii.net and Pokebeach.com, were recently contacted by Nintendo over the publication of in-game screenshots from Pokemon Black and White. Both sites have complied with the letter to avoid being shut down. All images from Serebii.net depicting the newest generation of Pokemon display dead links, whereas Pokebeach have replaced all of their images with pictures of Ditto. Pokebeach has taken it a step further by temporarily renaming their website “Pokerbeach.com”. Here is the letter that was sent to both sites:
While Nintendo appreciates your interest in and support of the Pokémon 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 Pokémon Black and Pokémon White games. Going forward, you must also refrain from posting any screenshots, videos, or other content that infringes Nintendo’s rights in the Pokémon 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.
The owner of Pokebeach.com issued a disclaimer earlier tonight to fight off rumors that the cease and desist letter was related to images derived from illegal roms, claiming that “at no time were images from roms posted on this website.” In Pokebeach’s case it seems Nintendo has rescinded their request that their domain be taken down as long as the site limits their use of images to “fair use”. For the full breakdown, click here to access the most recent update.
Recent Comments