Nintendo Bullies Fan Sites Over Pokemon B&W Pics

[Snotnarok]

This is one of the problems I have with nintendo they're almost as secretive as Apple so anyone ANYONE messes with anything that isn't out yet they attack their little website. Who doesn't have the images for the new B&W game and how does this put Nintendo in danger by some guy having them up on a site?

 

[Not-here-anymore]

The game's already out. What the hell kind of copyrights are they infringing on?

My thoughts exactly. If it weren't out anywhere on the planet, I could understand, but there are presumably an awful lot of people playing it right now. It's hardly unlikely that at least some knowledge about the game would leak across the ocean.

Also, how does giving more people a little info about the game hurt nintendo's property? Other than letting deviantart start work a little earlier?

 

[Willis_D]

Um, this mean I have to change my avatar?

 

[Bek359]

lol. you people seem to have the wrong idea. The whole point of pokemon is to go out on adventure and learn about all of the mysterious little monsters you encounter. If you already know everything about all of the little monsters, then all that is left is the battles. Knowing about the pokemon early is not in the spirit of pokemon. If you think pokemon is just the battles then you're not a true pokefan. pokefans want to go on that adventure. We want to learn about all of the different types of pokemon out there as we are on that journey. Not have an updated database on the internet.

and many of you think "free publicity" is letting people have the option of watching a whole movie online, and if they like it they'll go buy it. That's not publicity. That's piracy.

If they had just stuck to the advertisements that Nintendo had allowed there would be no problem. Nintendo put that out to be PUBLISHED. that was fair game for everyone. If these site begin to publish information without the consent of Nintendo THEY ARE BREAKING COPYRIGHT!!!

why do you people feel that breaking the law is okay?

They are not breaking copyright. What they are doing is perfectly legal under "fair use". Nintendo are just being dicks to their fans. And nobody is forcing anybody to go on the site to have the new designs spoiled for them.

 

[Bek359]

OH TEH NOES! YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF POKERMANS IS ON TEH INTERNET TOO LETS HAVE THEM REMOVE IT TOO! ITS VIOLATING OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY!

... Seriously Nintendo? Seriously?

Its a fucking game. Dont get me wrong, I love Pokemon, but its a GAME. People are ALLOWED to post information on it, to share photos, make fansites, etc.

What WOULD be a violation of your IP would be to take your Pokemon or mechanics, and put them into their own game, or something along those likes. Its not illegal to take sprites, pictures, or videos of a medium, so long as they dont have the intent to sell.

-AND- considering Serebii and PokeBeach are FREE and dont require you to pay a membership, Id have to say you ate a dogshit bullet on this one Nintendo.

HOWEVER, I would like to ~kinda~ thank Nintendo. I want Black/White to be relatively spoiler free, since I dont want to see all the new Pokemon (doing so for D/P kinda ruined some of the fun)

Spoiler alert: A great deal (I would even say the vast majority) of them are incredibly poorly designed. These are no longer the glory days of RBY/GSC.

 

[SnipErlite]

No! We must be happy when Nintendo wants us to be happy! End of story!

OT: Seems a little excessive Nintendo. This isn't giving you the best image to your fans. It is free advertising and screenshots aren't exactly going to hamper your sales.

Yes oh lord Nintendo, your wish is our wish, your command is our desire!
*begins collection of sacrificial goats*

 

[Tmcmistress]

It's amazing that Nintendo is worried about publicity with a series that sells like gangbusters with EVERY iteration despite the fact that it's the same game every time, just with different skins on the monsters.

 

[willsham45]

also they are innocent pictures. yay fans will do all they can to find out every little detail they can but surly the worst thing you can do is insult your biggest fans...its like owning a hat store and greeting every hello, greetings you ugly little ba#@$£"...
Its not done.

 

[Plurralbles]

nintendo, grow some sense. And balls, while you're at it.

Being a whiny ***** about free publicity is kind of stupid. Images of the game are what get people excited about the release. I know you sell the right to postthe images to people and you're losing money if people are showing hte images without paying you, but still, don't be a dick.

 

[Space Spoons]

I don't have much sympathy for people who pass around ROMs as soon as the latest DS title gets released. I'm not in any way opposed to the spirit of what these fan sites do, and I completely agree that pictures and screenshots are what get the fans pumped up... But if they're obtaining these pictures and screenshots through illegal copies of the game, I gotta side with Nintendo on throwing the book at them.

 

[Pendragon9]

Another reason why i'm starting to hate Nintendo. They're becoming way too much like their 1980 counterpart, bullying anyone and everyone with legal recourse.

 

[PrototypeC]

Wait a minute here guys. This is NINTENDO, the most lax (laxest?) company about their intellectual property ever. They let some artists draw their characters and sell them on posters and shirts at conventions for their whole living... they aren't employees, Nintendo never sees that money. However, they let them do it. Therefore, I don't in any way see them as "the new Activision"!

The weird thing is that they're reacting like this. I don't recall them having a cow when I was laughing at Miltank (or whatever it was called in Japan) on my friend's imported copy years ago, so why are they trying to keep it a secret to Western audiences now? It's been released already! If it's not in English yet, that doesn't mean hundreds of thousands of people aren't already playing the game right now... and some of them are American!

 

[orangeapples]

lol. you people seem to have the wrong idea. The whole point of pokemon is to go out on adventure and learn about all of the mysterious little monsters you encounter. If you already know everything about all of the little monsters, then all that is left is the battles. Knowing about the pokemon early is not in the spirit of pokemon. If you think pokemon is just the battles then you're not a true pokefan. pokefans want to go on that adventure. We want to learn about all of the different types of pokemon out there as we are on that journey. Not have an updated database on the internet.

and many of you think "free publicity" is letting people have the option of watching a whole movie online, and if they like it they'll go buy it. That's not publicity. That's piracy.

If they had just stuck to the advertisements that Nintendo had allowed there would be no problem. Nintendo put that out to be PUBLISHED. that was fair game for everyone. If these site begin to publish information without the consent of Nintendo THEY ARE BREAKING COPYRIGHT!!!

why do you people feel that breaking the law is okay?

They are not breaking copyright. What they are doing is perfectly legal under "fair use". Nintendo are just being dicks to their fans. And nobody is forcing anybody to go on the site to have the new designs spoiled for them.

show me how this falls under fair use.

The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

 

[Rad Party God]

Dear Nintendo... you won...

 

[Snow Fire]

show me how this falls under fair use.

The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

"Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use." - U.S. Copyright Office

I believe this would be an example of noncommercial use for the purpose of teaching, and/or research. Although, comment and criticism could also be considered here, but more on the comment part.

That's all I'll say, as for the comment on EULAs above, it isn't a legally binding contract, just an attempt for companies to protect themselves from lawsuits, but courts have ruled that they do not override a person's rights. In court, they are useless, just like the goggles. (Who reads them anyway >_>)

 

[BrunDeign]

I can understand where Nintendo is coming from. It's not the fan's stuff, it's Nintendo's. They have full authority over what happens with it.

Is it over-reacting? Hm.........Maybe.

I also don't know whose reaction is worse - Nintendo's to the posting of their sprites or the douche with PokeBeach (or PokerBeach goodness what a childish thing to do) whose response to them wasn't very reflective of how an administrator should act. Oh wait, I guess I do know whose reaction is worse.

I mean geez grow up. So they made you take down some pictures. I like Pokemon too and actually, now that I think about it, by posting those sprites you ruined the surprise. Wasn't that part of the fun with the first Pokemon? That you didn't know what you would find?

You shouldn't be getting so bitter about NOT BEING ABLE TO LOOK AT THE SPRITES OF FICTIONAL CREATURES.

 

[Mordwyl]

Nintendo are probably embarrassed at how awful the new pokemon look

This. I see no other logical explanation behind it.

 

[TerranReaper]

Unless these images were leaked, I really don't see the deal with it. Even if it was leaked, I say Nintendo is getting worked up for the wrong reasons.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

That's immensely stupid considering the game is already out in Japan.

So, what? Japan is allowed all the info but everyone else isn't?

Nice going, Nintendo. -1 sale.