Nintendo wins another major legal battle against a site involved in game piracy

Nintendo fights piracy in legal battles, while celebrating one last victory against a well-known file sharing and hosting website.

In a statement, the Japanese company said that the Paris judicial court attributed the responsibility on the part of the Dstorage group for not having removed or blocked  access to pirated copies of Nintendo games distributed through the file hosting website 1fichier.com .

The Court of Appeal finally ordered Dstorage to pay Nintendo €442,750 in damages, as well as €25,000 to cover legal costs.

Dstorage still has the possibility to appeal against this decision, while Nintendo expresses satisfaction, not only for the victory that in some ways could have seemed obvious, but for sending a strong message.

“Nintendo is pleased with the Paris Court of Appeal’s decision, as it once again sends a clear message that by refusing to remove or withdraw access to unauthorized copies of video games despite prior notification, sharehosting services such as Dstorage ( 1fichier) are responsible under French law and must remove or block access to such content and may be required to pay compensation to the right holders whose intellectual property rights have been infringed” .

“The Court’s finding of liability against Dstorage is significant not only for Nintendo, but also for the entire gaming industry. It will prevent sharehosters like 1Fichier from claiming that a prior court decision will be required before pirated content needs to be removed, and furthermore the Court’s decision upholds what rights holders must notify when they claim that the notified content violates the copyright or trademark rights”.

Source: gamesindustry.biz