Yepp, if they were attempting anything grand they’d have filed by now. The worst they could bring from this point is maybe infringement on a Pal by Pal basis but even there I feel there’s not much to go on given that Pokemon draws so heavily from the real world and you can’t really claim a concept like “volcano turtle mashup” as something so uniquely creative that it deserves copyright on the concept level. Same goes for just about all Pokemon with maybe some exceptions. So while Palworld absolutely has stuff like “electric dog” and others which overlap that is not enough.
Nintendo is infamously litigious and basically always has been; in 1987 they threatened to sue the developers of The Great Giana Sisters for publishing a game that wasn’t dissimilar to Super Mario Bros. No lawsuit was filed but the game was withdrawn from production. They’ve issued cease and desist letters to makers of fan games, other game developers, fanartists, hell I’m surprised anyone anywhere even tries to work with them.
Given the substantial resemblance of Palworld’s creatures to Pokemon and their “No Unapproved Fun” stance to everything I am not alone in being surprised Nintendo hasn’t tried anything.
The one thing that connects all those points and examples is that Nintendo has not sued anyone, non of that was ever taken to a court.
Because in a lot of this cases the chance to loose was substantial bigger then zero and a ruling against them would have had major implications.
So yes, they bully, they use the tools like DMCA (and EUCD in Europe) claims and takedowns, and stern letters from their lawyers but only when the chance for winning is really high they will go to a court to sue.
Why go to a court when you know that the person on the other side will cave in, not because you are right but because the costs for them to get right would be way to high.
The chance for loosing in this case is really high and the last Nintendo/Pokémon Company wants is a judge to rule that the designs are not that distinctive or “original works” at all.
Hopefully they are hiring lawyers cause Nintendo is coming
E: and here I thought I was just shitposting. Calm your tits fanboys.
Nintendo will get slapped down hard if they attempt to sue over this. They do not have a monopoly on brightly colored creatures.
Yepp, if they were attempting anything grand they’d have filed by now. The worst they could bring from this point is maybe infringement on a Pal by Pal basis but even there I feel there’s not much to go on given that Pokemon draws so heavily from the real world and you can’t really claim a concept like “volcano turtle mashup” as something so uniquely creative that it deserves copyright on the concept level. Same goes for just about all Pokemon with maybe some exceptions. So while Palworld absolutely has stuff like “electric dog” and others which overlap that is not enough.
A lot of the things like volcano turtle are based on existing mythology or urban legends, they aren’t even unique to Pokemon.
Almost wish they would. Lord knows Pocket Pair has the money to drop on a real legal defense right now, and I would love to see Nintendo take a hard L
If they were, we probably would have seen it by now.
Why though? Why would Nintendo’s legal team try to take action against Palworld? Please teach me, with actual fact as proof please.
Nintendo is infamously litigious and basically always has been; in 1987 they threatened to sue the developers of The Great Giana Sisters for publishing a game that wasn’t dissimilar to Super Mario Bros. No lawsuit was filed but the game was withdrawn from production. They’ve issued cease and desist letters to makers of fan games, other game developers, fanartists, hell I’m surprised anyone anywhere even tries to work with them.
Given the substantial resemblance of Palworld’s creatures to Pokemon and their “No Unapproved Fun” stance to everything I am not alone in being surprised Nintendo hasn’t tried anything.
The one thing that connects all those points and examples is that Nintendo has not sued anyone, non of that was ever taken to a court. Because in a lot of this cases the chance to loose was substantial bigger then zero and a ruling against them would have had major implications.
So yes, they bully, they use the tools like DMCA (and EUCD in Europe) claims and takedowns, and stern letters from their lawyers but only when the chance for winning is really high they will go to a court to sue. Why go to a court when you know that the person on the other side will cave in, not because you are right but because the costs for them to get right would be way to high.
The chance for loosing in this case is really high and the last Nintendo/Pokémon Company wants is a judge to rule that the designs are not that distinctive or “original works” at all.
In 1987, we were much shorter on legal precedent for video games. You’d be here all day listing games similar to Metroid, let alone Mario since 1987.
For what?
For lots of money Nintendo believe should be theirs.