When Nintendo fought a device that gave Mario 'new superpowers'
1–10 of 62 posts
Re: When Nintendo fought a device that gave Mario 'new superpowers'
#2This might be the earliest case of corporations abusing (electronic) copyright laws to influence competition I know of. Clearly, there is no real basis to claim that a memory poker infringes Nintendo's copyright, but Nintendo successfully lobbied against it anyway.
Re: When Nintendo fought a device that gave Mario 'new superpowers'
#3This might be the earliest case of corporations abusing (electronic) copyright laws to influence competition I know of. Clearly, there is no real basis to claim that a memory poker infringes Nintendo's copyright, but Nintendo successfully lobbied against it anyway.
Not successfully at the time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Galoob_Toys,_Inc._v._Nin....
(Perhaps successfully later on with the DMCA.)
Re: When Nintendo fought a device that gave Mario 'new superpowers'
#4This might be the earliest case of corporations abusing (electronic) copyright laws to influence competition I know of. Clearly, there is no real basis to claim that a memory poker infringes Nintendo's copyright, but Nintendo successfully lobbied against it anyway.
Not successfully at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Galoob_Toys,_Inc._v._Nin... . (Perhaps successfully later on with the DMCA.)
Yikes, broken link. This one should be fixed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Galoob_Toys,_Inc._v._Nin...
(Hint: if the last character is not alphanumeric, put a # (a blank URL fragment) to work around HN's autodetection of punctuation)
(Edit: I don't recommend percent-encoding URLs, mainly because certain web servers react differently to percent-encoded URL, like https://www.google.com/search?q=world+dog and https://www.google.com/search?q=world%2bdog (first one is interpreted by Google search server as space, second one as a plus sign) while a blank URL fragment is guaranteed to be safe.)
Re: When Nintendo fought a device that gave Mario 'new superpowers'
#5I think this is a sticky issue that continues to this day. The scope of Nintendo’s IP should include the delicate game balance of jump distance etc that makes the game what it is. On the other hand the creation of these other products is sort of ‘complementary’ to Nintendo’s products in the same way phone cases complement iPhones.
Re: When Nintendo fought a device that gave Mario 'new superpowers'
#6I think this is a sticky issue that continues to this day. The scope of Nintendo’s IP should include the delicate game balance of jump distance etc that makes the game what it is. On the other hand the creation of these other products is sort of ‘complementary’ to Nintendo’s products in the same way phone cases complement iPhones.
Under what basis? If we take the theory that nintendo's IP includes such things, that's an argument that people shouldnt be able to use those elements in a competing game. However making a cheat cartridge is not like that. Copyright is after all about restricting the right to make copies. Its not a catchall monopoly that allows the owner to dictate how to use the product that has been sold to them. Companies sometimes try with EULAs, which is different from intellectual property, but im unclear how enforcible they are, and they seem even less enforcible against the third party selling the cheat device who wouldn't even be a party to the eula.
Maybe you could argue their moral right to the artistic integrity of the work was violated, but that seems like it would be a rather uphill battle. In a modern context if DRM was involved, maybe the anticircumvention would come into play.
IANAL
Re: When Nintendo fought a device that gave Mario 'new superpowers'
#7I think this is a sticky issue that continues to this day. The scope of Nintendo’s IP should include the delicate game balance of jump distance etc that makes the game what it is. On the other hand the creation of these other products is sort of ‘complementary’ to Nintendo’s products in the same way phone cases complement iPhones.
Huh? If I mod my own single player game to change things or use hacks to cheat there’s no way whatsoever I’m violating copyright any more than if I decided to intentionally scratch my records. Buying pre-made mods and patches that don’t bundle copyrighted assets should spiritually be no different. Outside of exceptional cases the rule is that if I can do it myself I can pay someone to do it for me.
With multiplayer games cheating is definitely a TOS violation but again not copyright infringement.
Re: When Nintendo fought a device that gave Mario 'new superpowers'
#8I think this is a sticky issue that continues to this day. The scope of Nintendo’s IP should include the delicate game balance of jump distance etc that makes the game what it is. On the other hand the creation of these other products is sort of ‘complementary’ to Nintendo’s products in the same way phone cases complement iPhones.
So if my record player plays a record at the wrong RPM it's breaking the artist's IP ?
If I modify my honda civic with a body kit I'm breaking IP?
If I put a sticker over the apple logo on my MBP I'm infringing on their design?
to me the modification of bits in MY Nintendo from MY Cartridge should be none of their business.
Re: When Nintendo fought a device that gave Mario 'new superpowers'
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not successfully at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Galoob_Toys,_Inc._v._Nin... . (Perhaps successfully later on with the DMCA.)
Yikes, broken link. This one should be fixed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Galoob_Toys,_Inc._v._Nin... (Hint: if the last character is not alphanumeric, put a # (a blank URL fragment) to work around HN's autodetection of punctuation) (Edit: I don't recommend percent-encoding URLs, mainly because certain web servers react differently to percent-encoded URL, like https://www.google.com/search?q=world+dog and htt…
> Hint: if the last character is not alphanumeric, put a # (a blank URL fragment) to work around HN's autodetection of punctuation
I usually use URL encoding (aka percent encoding) [0] in this case but that’s a pretty neat trick and certainly more convenient than for example pasting the URL into https://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/dencoder/ and pressing the encode button and copying the encoded URL.
Re: When Nintendo fought a device that gave Mario 'new superpowers'
#10I think this is a sticky issue that continues to this day. The scope of Nintendo’s IP should include the delicate game balance of jump distance etc that makes the game what it is. On the other hand the creation of these other products is sort of ‘complementary’ to Nintendo’s products in the same way phone cases complement iPhones.
I don't think Mario's running and jumping frame data is owned by them. I can make a game that meticulously feels like Mario 3 with no legal risk afaiu. Since that's more akin to game rules.