Nintendo doesn’t play around with their IPs. This is something that you might be familiar with as we’ve seen Nintendo go after ROM hosting websites to killing off fan games. Nintendo will fight to protect their IPs and ensure that nothing is leaked out, created, or distributed without Nintendo’s official seal of approval. With that said, we’re seeing a new legal case order over an old Pokemon leak that is forcing two individuals to pay a hefty fine.
Pokemon Sword & Shield might be a pretty old Pokemon video game for some. This is one of the more recent Pokemon video game releases, but some fans might be eyeing the next installment releases slated to come out for the Nintendo Switch next. However, before this game was released, there were plenty of fans eagerly diving around online to discuss the game, trailers, and what might be coming out for these titles. As a result, any leaks were highly welcomed and shared by the community online.
Naturally, a leak did come out in the form of images from an unreleased strategy guide. These images offered some features and details that were not previously unveiled to the masses. After some digging around, Nintendo was able to track down the two individuals that caused this massive leak from going out and that was David Maisonave and Bryan Cruz. This all came down after Nintendo hired LSC Communications to print out their official strategy guide for the upcoming games.
David was working for LSC Communications at the time which he snapped some photos of the game and sent them to his friend Bryan. It was after receiving these images that Bryan uploaded them to a Discord group which quickly spread around online. When the two were discovered and responsible for these leaks, a court order demanded both pay $150,000. That’s quite the fee and it might prevent future leaks from popping up.
Source: VGC
