Earlier this year in July, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against two ROM and emulator websites at the federal court in the US state of Arizona for trademark and copyright infringement. The latest development is the owners and operators of these now-defunct websites – a married couple – have agreed to a settlement exceeding $12 million in favour of Nintendo.
In August, it was revealed both parties wanted to avoid prolonged court proceedings – with consent judgment and permanent injunction now resolving all of the outstanding disputes. The owners of the sites admit their involvement was both direct and indirect copyright and trademark infringement, resulting in irreparable injury for the Japanese video game company. Below is the unsigned verdict:
Plaintiff is hereby awarded judgment against all Defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of $12,230,000.
As noted by TorrentFreak, this high sum is likely intended to act as a deterrent for any other ROM and emulator website operators. It is unlikely the couple has this amount of money and presumably a jury would not have reached this same figure. If this is the case, it would not be the first time a judgment in court has been more than what two parties agreed to privately.
The permanent injunction in the settlement prevents the couple from infringing Nintendo’s copyrights in the future and requires them to hand over both website domains as well as all of the games and emulators in their possession.