Summary
- The Colorado (USA) court ordered streamer Jesse Keighin, known as Every Game Guru, to pay US$17,500 to Nintendo.
- The penalty was for having broadcast at least ten games in pirated versions before their official release, more than 50 times since 2022.
- The judge in the case also denied Nintendo’s requests to destroy used devices and claims against third parties.
Nintendo won a lawsuit against Jesse Keighin, a streamer known as Every Game Guru, for streaming pirated games before their release. The federal court in Colorado (USA) ordered the content creator to pay US$17,500 (about R$93,700, in direct conversion) after failing to respond to subpoenas.
The company sued Keighin for having live streamed at least ten games illegally more than 50 times since 2022. Although the streamer ignored the initial subpoena, Nintendo managed to notify him via email and also through letters to family members. Due to his failure to respond in time, the court entered a default judgment on March 26.
The decision accepts the payment of the fine, but rejects other requests from Nintendo. According to the website TorrentFreakthe company could have requested up to US$100,000, but opted for a lower amount to strengthen its case.
How did the streamer challenge Nintendo?
Nintendo opened the process last year and, in April of this year, filed a new request stating that the streamer did not respond to the notification. In a Facebook post, Keighin challenged the company’s lawyers: “You should have researched me more. You run a corporation, but I run the streets.”
According to Nintendo, he even sent letters stating that he had a thousand “disposable” channels, and that he could “do this all day”, even after the legal action was initiated. These messages were cited as evidence of bad faith during the process. The developer highlighted that the streamer persisted in illegal transmissions.
Nintendo asked for $10,000 for the last broadcast game, which was Mario & Luigi: Brothershipand US$7,500 for fifteen violations of anti-piracy measures ($500 each). The focus was on the last infraction and some specific violations. The decision considered the seriousness of the case and the fact that the streamer had ignored previous notifications.
Why were some of the requests denied?
The judge rejected two of Nintendo’s requests. The first was to destroy devices used for piracy, denied as being “unreliable” and “unreasonable” as Keighin was using publicly available emulation software and not a jailbroken Nintendo Switch.
The second, against other people or entities that had collaborated with the streamer, was also refused, as the game distributor did not identify who these people were.
In this case, the court highlighted that the request was very broad and without a clear specification of the devices or individuals involved. The decision maintains the focus on the payment of damages, without imposing additional restrictions.
With information from Video Game Chronicles
Source: https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/nintendo-ganha-processo-contra-streamer-de-jogos-piratas/
