Nintendo has always been pretty strict where copyright law is concerned, and a new lawsuit against two ROM-hosting websites seems to prove that the gaming giant has no intention to change its ways in the near future.

The two ROM sites in question are LoveROMS and LoveRetro, the latter of which has already been taken offline since the cease and desist was issued. Both websites are operated by the same person, according to the lawsuit.

Nintendo's suit, filed on July 19th to the U.S. Court District for the District of Arizona, complains that the two sites are "notorious online hubs for pirated video games" and that they have operated with "willful disregard of Nintendo's rights".

The suit specifically points out how the ROM sites could potentially be damaging to the NES and SNES Classic consoles, which feature many games that were being hosted by LoveROMS and LoveRetro.

Nintendo continues to produce, market, and sell many of the video games originally developed for its earlier video game systems, including NES and SNES. In 2016, Nintendo released NES Classic Edition, a miniaturized version of the NES console that features pre-installed copies of many of the most memorable games designed for NES. In 2017, Nintendo released SNES Classic Edition, a miniaturized version of SNES which also features pre-installed copies of many iconic games designed for SNES. Nintendo continues to produce, market, and sell NES Classic Edition and SNES Classic Edition.

Nintendo's argument is of course, completely valid. While simply allowing the site to continue to operate probably wouldn't have been very damaging to Nintendo as a whole, they do own the rights to the ROMs in question, meaning they have every right to demand that they are taken down.

On the other hand, this could be seen as potentially damaging to the concept of game preservation, which many groups have begun to take more seriously in recent years. Nintendo themselves allege that LoveROMS and LoveRetro were hosting thousands of Nintendo's games, some of which are now almost certainly impossible to find legitimate copies of. It's arguable that the two sites were providing a service to games as a whole, even if that wasn't the owner's intent.

Nintendo is somewhat notorious amongst gamers for issuing copyright strikes and ordering takedowns, especially against YouTubers that upload Let's Play videos featuring Nintendo content. While Nintendo is perfectly justified in ordering the takedown of their content, lawsuits like this raise questions over whether the company will ever change their somewhat overbearing ways, which span all the way back to the Nintendo Seal of Approval and their ham-fisted methods of dealing with third-party developers in the 80's.

Source: TorrentFreak