Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics, as well as one of the oldest video game company.
The company is known for its aggressive approach when dealing with lawsuits, and can go to great length to fight and win.
And this time, Nintendo has successfully obtained a permanent injunction against the owner of RomUniverse, after winning a $2.1 million damage penalty earlier.
RomUniverse is a now-defunct website that once thrived by hosting Nintendo games illegally.
Back in 2019, it ceased operations after Nintendo filed a complaint. After the site was shut down, Nintendo went a step further by convincing the court to grant a permanent injunction of RomUniverse, so it won't come online ever again.
And that is by forcing it to destroy all pirated Nintendo games which are still in its possession.
It all began when RomUniverse was among the most popular sites for downloading Nintendo games for free.
The website hosted ROMs of Nintendo’s games, and offered a subscription service for those that wanted to remove the download size limit.
During the first lawsuit, the owner of the site, Matthew Storman, a Los Angeles resident, disagreed with Nintendo’s allegations of infringement, and decided to fight against the case without a lawyer.
A man on his own against a giant corporation with an army of lawyers, Storman argued that it has not been proven that Nintendo actually suffered from any financial damages as a result of RomUniverse being online.
Storman lost the case, as Nintendo proved flaws in his objections.
It should be noted that, while Nintendo was granted the $2.1 million in damages, but the company is never actually going to get that money. This is because under the agreement, Storman has to pay the damages off in instalments of just $50 a month.
Due to his unemployment, Storman missed even his first payment.
While Nintendo didn't care so much, Storman wished to returned RomUniverse, but without Nintendo.
This didn't convince Nintendo.
And knowing that Storman hinted about the site's comeback, the angry Nintendo filed for a permanent injunction in order to prevent Storman from reviving the site.
Nintendo managed to convince the judge, to order RomUniverse to never be allowed to use Nintento's trademarks, logos or even its naming.
And on top of that, the California district judge has also decided to order Storman to “permanently destroy all unauthorized Nintendo games or other unauthorized copies of Nintendo’s intellectual property including movies, books, and music” by August 17th.
Judge Consuelo B. Marshall who handles the case, issued an injunction that said the relaunch of the site could still cause "irreparable harm" to Nintendo.
“Plaintiff’s evidence demonstrates a threat of continued infringement based on Defendant’s representations that he may relaunch his website which previously contained Plaintiff’s copyrighted games. Accordingly, Plaintiff demonstrates irreparable harm warranting an injunction for Plaintiff’s copyright infringement claim.”
Storman must file a declaration, under penalty of perjury, with the California federal court "certifying his compliance with these terms."
If not, Storman faces consequences.
