Dstorage will have to dig deep into its pockets to pay the big N, as the fine is no small matter…

Gamesindustry reported the verdict of the Paris Court of Appeal. Nintendo used to sue Dstorage for making games from the Japanese company illegally available on the site. The fine is €467,750, and Dstorage (which can still appeal) was hit for not blocking access to Big N’s games. These were uploaded to a French file-sharing site, 1fichier.com (parenthetical note: a site launched in 2006, Zippyshare, has recently gone bye-bye…), and Nintendo had previously demanded that Dstorage remove the content in question. Then came the legal route, and the Paris Judicial Court issued a similar ruling in May 2021.

According to the Court of Appeal’s ruling, Dstorage has to pay Nintendo €442,750 in compensation and an additional €25,000 to cover their legal costs. While Dstorage can still appeal the decision, Nintendo considers it a victory and believes that it could set a precedent in the games industry for anti-piracy cases (while the same company had previously only released games and collections (!) that were only temporarily available?).

“Nintendo is pleased with the decision of the Paris Court of Appeals, as it again sends a clear message that in refusing to remove or withdraw access to unauthorized copies of video games despite prior notification, sharehosting services such as Dstorage (1fichier) are liable under French law and must remove or block access to such content and may be liable to pay compensation to those rights holders whose intellectual property rights have been infringed. The Court’s finding of liability against Dstorage is significant for Nintendo and the entire games industry. It will prevent sharehosters like 1Fichier from claiming that a prior decision from a court will be needed before pirated content has to be taken down. Additionally, the Court decision confirms what rights holders have to give notice when claiming that notified content infringes the copyright or trademark rights,” Nintendo wrote.

Okay, Nintendo. Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Should we buy it at a ridiculous price (for collectors) or look for it on the eShop, where it was taken down two years ago? Maybe that’s why it’s not a crime to download such games. Because it wouldn’t hurt the big N to leave the collection up on the Switch eShop…

Source: Gamesindustry