Copyright laws are really anal and particular. In a lot of instances, if you don't protect your IP sufficiently enough, it can come back and haunt you down the road big time. Don't protect it or don't do something with it after a set period of time and in can expire [or be considered as abandonware]
Factually wrong. No company is legally required to defend their copyright or trademark. Read the article I linked posted by people who actually know about copyright law.
Furthermore, the term "defend" is coming into play an awful lot. What is attacking it? Who is attacking it? What or who is taking what away from it? Nothing.
It's a legal bogeyman.
And this is just barely scratching the surface, as copyright law is a phenomenal nightmare.
Largely because of so many uneducated morons and bullies with big wallets.
Sure, point at Sega going "Well, go for it kids! Let's see what you can do!". Also note where Sega is in the landscape of gaming compared to Nintendo. Sega is at a point in their life where this kind of model just works for them and they are embracing it. This also keeps them relevant and afloat in the industry... and yeah, some decent positive spin is always a good thing.
Sega was this at one point and stopped. The problem is Nintendo is so filled with old fossils who can't flex their heads out of their asses long enough to realize what they're doing is stupid.
Nintendo has been around for... well since 1889. 127 years and change. You don't last this long without doing what's best for your business. Even if it doesn't exactly jive with everyone.
...and Nintendo wasn't relevant to any living person until Donkey Kong. What's your point? Their love hotels and trading cards were cultural failures.
Also, Nintendo hasn't exactly been "in business" for some time. Their console division hemorrhages money worse than a porcupine attack victim and their handheld division isn't much better, look at the colossal losses incurred on the New 3DS and the 2DS.
Hell, look at how Nintendo's games are now. The "Nintendo Seal of Approval" used to be something to strive for because it meant hard work and effort went into the game. You have half-finished, buggy, unpolished and untested pieces of crap running rampant now even from Nintendo themselves.
Would it be cool to see Nintendo embrace some of these fans creations? Oh hell yeah! But how many of them ever considered trying to contact Nintendo as an independent studio and showed them some stuff and seen if Nintendo might want to work with them? Probably None. [Granted to this point, this is where you can argue Nintendo probably would have dropped an immediate NO down and kiboshed most projects and then there's so much more legal crap in this instance too.. but I digress]
Legally, no one is required to. There's this beautiful thing called "fair use".
Your copyright or trademark is only being attacked provided said work is on the same platform, pretends to be an official release and is freely available on said platform or the fan project is asking for money.
A ROM hack is none of that. Fan games are rarely ever any of that.
Actually read up on copyright law. This read a lot like those typical Nintendo fandrone comments on GameSpot or whatever where people who have no idea about laws comment and commend Nintendo "for doing their duty".
Joined: 1/14/2017
Posts: 1
Location: United States
Hello! I am posting to let people know that I have been making a TAS for Pokemon Prism for a while now. I am doing this for fun during free time, and I am well aware that a TAS of this game probably won't be published here due to legal issues and its unfinished state. I may post a four gym WIP soon to demonstrate the route I have been working on.
Here's an initial RTA of Pokemon Prism ver 0.91:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/120096099
Very much improvable, but it might help.
(I'd catch L7 Marill in the grass north of Oxalis City instead.)
Nintendo of America said they would allow fans to use their IP in things like fan art, fan fiction, and parodies, but they never said a thing about ROM hacks. Nintendo Australia has tough standards when it comes to fair use.
If a cease and desist letter was sent by Nintendo Co.,Ltd., it would somewhat likely be in Japanese.
If it was from Nintendo of Europe, it'll be multilingual.
It was just a big middle finger pointed to the TPP community who were waiting for their best Christmas present only to get stabbed in the back by the big N. How naughty!
We'll never find out if those mysterious eggs can be used. There's always another way. Use a GameShark.
