The now-offline gaming ROM site RomUniverse was initially sued by Nintendo in September 2019 for copyright infringement and distribution of pirated games. Nearly two years later, the owner of RomUniverse has been ordered to pay over $2 million dollars to Nintendo for lost profits and damages, according to a Summary Judgment released by the Central District of California of the U.S. District Court.
The basis of the decision comes from copyright law and the fact that Storman was profiting off of downloads through a unique paid subscription service, which allowed users to download as many games as they wanted without being throttled – much like premium memberships on other download-oriented sites. Storman was making money off of Nintendo games with the Nintendo logo, so the company sought $90,000 for each copyright infringement hosted on RomUniverse without approval – there were 49, for a total of more than $4.4 million.
Matthew Storman, a Los Angeles resident and owner of RomUniverse, ran the website for more than 10 years without many obstacles from Nintendo. However, it was revealed that he had not actually made that much money from the site (about $800 a month) and that he had been forced to live on food stamps and unemployment over the course of the trial. The court changed the payment to $35,000 per infringement, for a total of $1,715,000, due to Storman's finances and the fact that he had already shut down the site.
In addition to copyright damages for each of the instances of infringement on RomUniverse, Nintendo sought $400,000 for 28 trademarks on the site. This was based on the Lanham Act, a federal statute that protects trademarks when it comes to false advertising, misuse, and dilution. Because RomUniverse hosted direct Nintendo images, logos, and of course games, the company could have sought a much larger amount per infringement, up to $2 million per. However, Nintendo settled on $400,000, the court agreed, and the total was brought to $2,115,000 in statutory damages.
The trial has been at the center of the gaming pirating world since it began in September 2019. Nintendo has historically been extremely protective of its IPs, going as far as to take down a huge swathe of YouTube videos over the years for not following music or game copyrights.
While it's an exorbitant amount of money, Storman will only be paying less than half of what Nintendo originally sought, not including the 28 trademark infringements that could have skyrocketed the statutory damages. As it stands, Storman has been ordered to pay $2,115,000 to Nintendo of America, a stern warning to those wanting to host pirated Nintendo games.
Source: Courtlistener