All articles tagged with #dmca takedown
Relic Castle, a popular Pokemon fan game site, has been shut down due to a DMCA takedown notice, following the recent shutdown of the Switch emulator Yuzu and the 3DS emulator Citra. The site, which has been around since 2014, provided a platform for fans to share and access Pokemon fan games. The DMCA notice has led to the closure of the forum, but the Discord server remains active, and the site is accessible as an archive.
The Pokemon Company issued a DMCA takedown notice to Relic Castle, a popular Pokemon fan site that provided links to hundreds of fan-made Pokemon games. Despite not hosting any content itself, the site had amassed a large community over its nearly decade-long existence. The takedown has sparked disappointment among fans and site operators, who bid farewell on social media.
Relic Castle, a popular forum for Pokémon fan games, has been taken offline following a DMCA takedown notice, leaving its 20,000 members and 65,000+ posts in limbo. The site, which served as a hub for discussing and sharing Pokémon fan games, was a non-profit, ad-free community that had been active for nearly a decade. The sudden shutdown reflects a broader crackdown on Pokémon mods and fan content, raising concerns for content creators and modders in the community.
After nearly a decade, the long-running Pokémon fan game site Relic Castle has shut down following a DMCA takedown notice, stripping the website of its resources. The site, which had gained over 20,000 members, was known for hosting Pokémon fan games and fostering a tight-knit community. The takedown notice, authorized by The Pokémon Company International, targeted the entire site for using unauthorized copies of copyrighted material. This move reflects the company's increasing efforts to crack down on fan projects and mods related to Pokémon.
The Switch emulator Suyu, a fork of the Yuzu project, has been hit by a DMCA takedown on GitLab, but the open source files are still available on a self-hosted git repo. The takedown was based on alleged violations of the DMCA related to circumventing Nintendo's technical protection measures. The project's developers are uncertain about the source of the takedown and are considering legal action to regain access to GitLab. Despite efforts to avoid legal issues, the project exists in a legal gray area.
The New York Times issued a takedown notice to Reactle, a Wordle clone, resulting in the removal of around 1900 other versions of the game. Reactle, an open-source project, provided instructions on creating Wordle spin-offs, leading to numerous infringing Wordle knock-off games. The NYT's DMCA notice demands the deletion of all projects that have forked Reactle, citing copyright infringement and bad faith. This crackdown follows the NYT's acquisition of Wordle and previous actions against similar games, including shutting down Wordle Archive and debuting a new game called Connections.
The New York Times has been sending DMCA takedown notices to developers of Wordle clones, with the latest notice targeting a clone called "Reactle" and its numerous spinoffs. The Times claims ownership of the name Wordle and its mechanics, including the 5x6 grid, green and yellow tiles, and the keyboard layout. However, the simplicity of Wordle's premise suggests that the takedown requests may not eliminate its clones and alternatives entirely.
Fans of Palworld are worried about the game's future after Nintendo issued a surprise DMCA takedown of fan-made merchandise featuring Palworld designs, sparking concerns that the game may be targeted next due to its similarities to Pokemon. Despite this, Palworld remains popular and is set to partner with Xbox for improvements, with fans defending its unique features.
The release of a Palworld mod that transforms the game's creatures into Pokémon has been delayed due to a DMCA takedown, likely from Nintendo. This comes amid accusations that Palworld's developer, Pocketpair, has plagiarized art and assets from Pokémon. With Palworld's rapid success, selling 6 million copies in four days, all eyes are on Nintendo to see if they will take legal action against the game. Despite the controversy, Pocketpair maintains that they have not infringed on any intellectual property.
Palworld, a game described as "Pokémon-with-guns," has garnered millions of downloads but is now facing a Pokémon mod takedown on YouTube due to concerns about its Pokémon "inspirations." The mod, featuring Pokémon models in place of Palworld characters, was shared by a YouTuber but was swiftly taken down, possibly due to a DMCA takedown from Nintendo or The Pokémon Company. This incident raises questions about potential future legal action regarding copyright infringement.
The creator of the cancelled fan project Portal 64, which aimed to bring Valve's classic game to Nintendo 64 hardware, urges disappointed fans not to blame Valve for the takedown. Valve requested the project be removed after discovering it used the official Nintendo 64 SDK, as they could potentially face legal issues with Nintendo. The creator, Joe Lambert, is now considering new projects, including an original game for Nintendo 64 and PC.
The fan-made remake of Team Fortress 2 in the Source 2 engine, known as Team Fortress: Source 2, has been fully cancelled after encountering development issues and receiving a legal takedown from Valve. The project had already been put on hold due to code problems, and the recent DMCA takedown notice was described as "the nail in the coffin" for the project. The team behind the remake, Amper Software, acknowledged Valve's decision as fair and legal, and expressed gratitude for the support received over the three years of development.
Valve has taken action against fan projects including Team Fortress: Source 2 and Portal 64, issuing a DMCA takedown against the former and indirectly causing the removal of the latter due to its reliance on Nintendo's proprietary libraries. This move has surprised the gaming community, as Valve has historically been supportive of fan projects. The unique circumstances of these cases, involving unauthorized use of Valve assets and reliance on Nintendo's proprietary tools, may have prompted these actions, signaling a potential shift in Valve's approach to fan projects.
Nintendo has issued a DMCA takedown notice to remove a fan remake of the game Link's Awakening DX HD from Itch.io, citing copyright infringement. The fangame had gained attention online before being taken down, but it is likely that copies of the game still exist elsewhere on the internet.
The developers of the popular Switch Android emulator Skyline have ceased development due to a DMCA takedown notice from Nintendo related to Lockpick, a homebrew software that dumps Switch security keys used with the emulator. The Skyline team stated that continuing development could potentially violate Nintendo's copyright, but the emulator is still technically legal. The repository and software builds will remain available, but there won't be any support.