Forum - View topicINTEREST: Nintendo's Lawsuit Against Real-Life Mario Kart Company Goes to Court
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Kougeru
 Posts: 5599 |
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What a bull excuse. From what I read before, the costumes were being used in ADVERTISEMENTS as well. And if they really are sueing the wrong people, that should've been considered before it got this far and thrown out already. Unless Japan does things much different than America, I guess. Either way, Nintendo should win this easily thanks to IP laws. |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Yeah, it sounds like a lot of desperate finger-pointing to me. I get the feeling they've already done a number of legal loopholes, but definitely, not only were the costumes used in advertisements, they were front-and-center and featured in such a way to draw attention to the outfits, so they can't use that defense, whatever it's called, that it's just part of the environment (such as how you can have cars in the background of TV and movies without having to pay every car manufacturer). If MariCar's owners have any dignity, they should go get their own attorney rather than making excuses. What they're doing just digs them deeper. But you know they won't because they are liars (claiming they got Nintendo's permission when their business model clearly shows they haven't) and can't hope to win. |
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0nsen
 Posts: 256 |
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Nintendo are being bullies again. Oh well, ...
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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How are they being bullies here? MariCar is clearly using the Mario characters' likenesses and elements from the Mario Kart franchise without permission, and done carelessly, for profit. That's a pretty textbook case of copyright infringement. |
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0nsen
Posts: 256 |
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In the same way they were being bullies when they invented regiolock or when they forbade third party developers to make games for other consoles or when they shut down fan made games.
I fail to see how those real live carts could have a negative impact on Nintendo monetizing their video games. Copyright is all about incentivizing creators to create more, not to throw their weight around to prevent other people from making stuff, i.e. bullying. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Except in this case, MariCar was clearly created to profit off the likenesses of the Mario characters and the Mario Kart franchise without getting permission. When you want to run a business and use someone else's characters and franchise, you're supposed to ask permission from the rights holders and pay the legal fees agreed upon. That way, the peripheral business can be checked to make sure the brand image isn't negatively impacted, which can easily happen if a rogue company like MariCar uses it as recklessly as they do, considering this business's trashy look. Bear in mind that I do not normally take Nintendo's side when they go after stuff like fan-games and fan events. Those are done out of love, not profit. I don't see any love in MariCar. It's simply a way to get money out of people who've been tricked into thinking it's an officially licensed service, and the MariCar people have been incredibly dishonest during the whole dispute, making them VERY hard to sympathize with. There is nothing I can find MariCar is doing that puts them in the right. (They could've had the same rental service with original characters or even knockoffs of Mario characters, and I'd be okay with that. But they chose to go all the way, which is where I say "they're leeching off of someone else's brand name recognition.") Ordinarily, patent/copyright/trademark trolls are people I dislike more than almost anyone else. MariCar is "that one exception." |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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I half expect a turtle shell or banana peel to be thrown in the courthouse during a heated exchange.
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